


The Eighteenth Time - AKA: Earthquake

by canadiankazz



Series: Times Jasper Fed from Annabelle [18]
Category: L.A. By Night (Web Series), Vampire: The Masquerade
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Blood Drinking, Blood and Injury, Brujah (Vampire: The Masquerade), Cowgirl Position, Cunnilingus, Earthquakes, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, It was only a matter of time before someone figured out the truth, Missionary Position, Nosferatu (Vampire: The Masquerade), Porn With Plot, Vaginal Sex, Vampires, perhaps more than one someone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-04-14
Packaged: 2019-12-30 11:07:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18314198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/canadiankazz/pseuds/canadiankazz
Summary: An earthquake hits L.A. and Jasper and Annabelle are trapped in a collapsed building. Will they get out in one piece before the sun comes up?This fic is part of an AU series where Jasper has been feeding from Annabelle and they now have a Blood Bond and a slow burn romantic relationship. It's worth reading the rest of the "Feeds From" series before this part for proper context and build up of Jasper and Annabelle's relationship. This fic is set sometime after the events of Season 2, Episode 8, but before Episode 9.Unlike other fics in this series, this one isfive chapters long!





	1. Rubble

**Author's Note:**

> Although this fic is part of the "Feeds From" series, it's long enough to be its own thing. That's why it has a subtitle.
> 
> I lay no claim to any of the characters involved. The only profit I receive is the occasional kudos and positive comment.
> 
> Special thanks to L for helping me edit this monster, to M for the encouragement, and to my lovely readers. Enjoy!

“I think this is the place,” Annabelle said, eyeing the building suspiciously.

“This is where she said she’d meet us?” Jasper asked.

“Yeah.”

It was an old, three story concrete building, obviously long abandoned. The walls were covered with graffiti. There was broken glass everywhere from long-shattered windows. Annabelle guessed it had once been an office building or something like that. All the other buildings in the area had been torn down already. It was obvious this building was next, but the city hadn’t gotten around to it yet. It looked like the building should’ve been condemned.

Jasper sighed. He was annoyed that X wasn’t there with them, even though he had been the one to send them on this mission. Another Malkavian, named Jessica, had contacted X, claiming to be fleeing the Ivory Tower and wanting to join the Anarchs. X had told Jasper and Annabelle about it, and where Jessica was currently hiding in the city. That place was supposedly the long-abandoned building Jasper and Annabelle found themselves at. X had other business this night that kept him from being there, but he trusted Jasper and Annabelle to find her and make initial contact.

So, here they were.

Annabelle opened the creaky door and peered inside. “Hello?”

There was no answer.

“Hello?” she called again.

Nothing. The building was empty.

“Maybe she’s not here?” Annabelle said to Jasper.

“She could be hiding,” he suggested. He knew that many Malkavians could hide themselves just as well as any Nosferatu

“We should still check it out,” Annabelle said, reluctant to give up just yet. “At least then we can tell X we tried.”

Jasper shrugged, but nodded. Annabelle carefully stepped inside the building. Jasper followed.

“Is anyone here? We’re friends with X,” she said to the seemingly empty building. She scanned the area as well as she could. Light from street lamps outside shone in through the broken windows, aking patterns on the barren floor.

Annabelle was no expert, but she didn’t like the look of the cracks in some of the bare support pillars inside the building. Jasper had a lot more experience in this field, having studied architecture, and he didn’t like the look of those cracks either.

“We shouldn't stay long. Let’s just see if she’s here, and then go,” he said. He was trying not to sound nervous, but he did press a sense of urgency onto Annabelle. “I’ll go look upstairs, you look down here.”

“Okay,” Annabelle agreed.

Jasper climbed the stairs, moving quietly and taking them two at a time. Annabelle walked carefully across the dirty floor, looking for signs that anyone else had been there lately and trying not to be afraid.

Suddenly, a flock of birds that had been sleeping in a tree outside took flight in a panicked burst of squawking and flapping.The sound made Annabelle jump in surprise and fear. She let out a little giggle, embarrassed that she fell for such a jump scare.

Annabelle was about to call out to Jasper, when the ground beneath her feet shifted and moved. Bits of building started to fall around her and cracks went up the few remaining support pillars. There was a horrible rumbling sound coming from deep below and all around. Annabelle panicked and tried to run, but the ground suddenly and violently _shifted_ under her feet and she fell. She screamed and tried to cover her head as debris rained down on and around her. The scream was cut short as an enormous slab of reinforced concrete fell from somewhere far above and landed on her, crushing her legs and lower body. Another fell across her shoulders. More fell on top of that.

It seemed to go on and on forever but finally, eventually...

...it stopped.

Dust rained down gently all around her. Annabelle blinked, in shock. That had been an earthquake. She had been in minor quakes before, but never one big enough to collapse a building. She tried to take stock of her condition. She was face-down on the cracked and filthy floor. She couldn't move her legs, trapped was they were. It felt like she bad been squashed flat from her middle down. She only had one hand free. Her other arm was twisted underneath her. Annabelle could move her neck and felt no pain there or in her head. The rest of her body was in incredible pain though. Annabelle tried to inhale to call out and found that her chest could barely move to take in air to do so. If she had only been human, she would be dead. The potent scent of vampire blood hit her nose, and it wasn't her own.

_Oh, no..._

“Jasper?” she rhasped weakly. “Jasper?”

She heard a pained snarl from above. “ _Ow…_ ”

“Jasper?”

“Annabelle...”

She could hear him trying to move, the sound of rough fabric scraping on concrete. She tried to look up and saw a dark shape above her.

“Shit...” Jasper snarled in pain.

“Are you okay?” She knew it was a stupid question.

“No. I can't move,” he growled and grunted. “I've got rebar through my stomach. I think there's one in my leg too...”

Annabelle felt something wet drip onto her face from above. It was Jasper's blood. The scent of it was powerful.

“Can you move?” Jasper asked.

“No. I'm pinned,” Annabelle whimpered.

“Try using Potence.”

Annabelle gritted her teeth and called upon her blood. She braced her good arm against the cracked floor and tried to push herself upwards. Her lower body screamed in renewed pain. Her legs were useless. A few smaller loose pieces of concrete shifted on top of her, but she couldn’t budge more than an inch or two. “I can't... I can't move it!” Annabelle cried in fear. Panic rose in her. If her vampiric strength wasn’t enough to get them out, then they were permanently trapped. “Jasper, I _can't_!”

“Annabelle, Annabelle calm down. Calm down,” he told her. “You're going to be okay. Don't panic.”

If Annabelle heard him, she didn't respond. She was almost hyperventilating, blood tears running down her cheeks.

“Annabelle, please,” Jasper coughed. “Keep it together or neither of us are getting out of here.”

Annabelle whimpered. “Okay... okay...” She tried to pull herself together, but it was hard. She couldn’t take a deep breath to calm herself.

“Can you reach your phone?” Jasper asked.

“No... It was in my pocket… everything’s crushed...”

“Okay. I can't reach mine either.”

Annabelle’s voice shook. “Y-you sound so c-calm about it.”

“I'm trying to keep you calm so that you don't fear frenzy.”

“W-what do we do?”

“Well,” Jasper tried not to snarl as he spoke, but the pain he was in was making that difficult. “We either wait for help, or we try to get ourselves out.”

“N-no one knows we're out h-here,” Annabelle said, her voice continuing to shake, “e-except X and h-he’s out of town…”

“The others will know we're missing eventually. They'll come looking for us.”

Annabelle had mental images of being trapped for days. She was already hungry. “H-how long will that take?” she sobbed.

“Annabelle, it'll be okay,” Jasper said. “They'll find us.”

Annabelle heard movement above. She felt something brush her hair, just lightly. She blinked upwards again and saw Jasper's left hand. He could only just reach her. His pale skin was made even whiter by concrete dust. There was a red streak running down his hand and pinky finger from where a Vitae drip had escaped down his arm.

“This is like what happened to Nelli...” Annabelle said, recalling Greg going to them for help when he couldn’t pull Nelli out of a collapsed church.

“Kind of, yeah.”

The ground rumbled again in an aftershock. Annabelle moaned in pain as the concrete shifted on top of her. Jasper hissed in added discomfort. The aftershock ceased.

Jasper groaned. “Uh oh.”

“What?” Annabelle coughed painfully. “What ‘uh oh?’ What’s happened?”

“I can see the sky now,” Jasper sighed. “Something above me shifted in that aftershock.”

Annabelle couldn't see it at all. His body and the concrete must be blocking her from it. “So?”

“So... when the sun comes up, we’ll be in danger.”

Annabelle's eyes went wide. “No! _No_!” She tried once again to shift, to free herself. She managed to wriggle her pinned arm a little out from under herself, but it made one of the slabs on top of her move. It slid a few inches. She heard Jasper roar in pain above her and she froze. “Jasper?”

“ _Don't... move_...” he snarled, breathing hard.

“I'm sorry! I'm scared...”

Jasper was trying to clamp down on his pain. “I _know_... I know you're scared. I'm scared too.”

Annabelle cried quietly, unable to stop herself. She could hear Jasper groan above her, smelling her bloody tears. “You've got to move, you've got to get out!” she said desperately.

“I know,” Jasper snarled, “but I'm also pinned by rebar. I can't get up.”

“Please,” Annabelle sobbed. “Please try!”

“Annabelle-”

“I won't have you die!”

“Annabelle...”

He had to wait for her to calm down again, which she did, gradually.

“Annabelle, listen to me,” he said.

She sniffled and sobbed.

“Are you listening?” he felt her hair again. His fingertips brushed her scalp.

“Y-yes.”

“I'm not going to die. I think it's only a tiny bit of sun that can get through. It's going to hurt, but I think I'm going to be okay,” Jasper said. He wasn't telling her the complete truth. He knew that he could very well die or fall into torpor from the damage. He could tell though, that Annabelle was completely covered and out of reach of the sun. She would be safe. As afraid as he was for himself, he was glad, at least, that she was unlikely to get burned.

“Please, try to get up,” she begged him.

“Okay,” Jasper said through gritted teeth. Annabelle could hear him growling in agony and trying to move for several minutes before he gave up. “ _Ow_ , fuck…”

“Jasper?”

“I can’t get out,” he sighed in pain. “Not without leaving my leg behind.”

Another small aftershock hit, making both of them wince. “Jasper, I'm so scared,” Annabelle whispered.

“I know.”

“This is the _worst_.”

Jasper’s chuckle sounded laboured. “Heh, yeah, this is pretty bad.”

“How... how long until dawn, do you think?”

“An hour or two,” Jasper guessed.

Annabelle tried and failed not to whimper again. “Jasper...”

“Yeah?”

“Jasper, if we don't make it...”

“No,” he snarled sharply. He knew where she was going with this.

“I just want you to know-” Annabelle continued, but Jasper cut her off again. That was quitter’s talk.

“Don't you dare say anything like that now! Say it to me later, in bed, once we're out of here and safe, okay?”

“O-okay,” Annabelle said in a shaky voice.

“Promise you won’t give up,” he demanded.

“I promise.”

“Good. I promise too.”

They were quiet again for a long time. Sirens filled the early morning air as the city fought to recover and aid others trapped or in need of help after the earthquake. Annabelle kept trying to wriggle out, or lift the concrete, but had no success. She could feel sleep calling to her as dawn approached, but she couldn’t let herself sleep, not while Jasper burned above her.

“We never did find Jessica, did we?” she said softly.

“No,” Jasper replied. “Hopefully she wasn’t here.”

Annabelle tried to lift her head again. She had heard a faint scraping of tiny claws over concrete.

“Do you hear that?” she whispered.

“Yeah,” Jasper growled. “It's a rat.”

“How do you know?”

“Because it's crawling over me.”

The rat jumped down and landed in front of Annabelle’s line of sight. It was a plump brown one with soft, well groomed fur and keen eyes. It sniffed at Annabelle's face. She smiled at it hopefully. “Hi... do you know Ramona?”

The rat chittered and squeaked. Annabelle wished she could speak rat. “If you know Ramona, please, go get her! We need help! Please! Send help! Quickly!”

The rat twitched its whiskers. It seemed to look from Annabelle, up to Jasper and back again. It scampered up and over the concrete slab on top of Annabelle and climbed back up towards Jasper. Annabelle could hear Jasper growl softly at it.

“Do you think it's one of Ramona's?” Annabelle asked.

“I don't know, but it seems likely,” Jasper said.

“What's it doing?”

“Looking around. Hey,” Jasper hissed at the rat. “If you're going to get her, go do it! We don't have a lot of time!”

The rat scampered away, squeezing through a gap in the broken concrete. Jasper growled darkly and groaned.

“Is it gone?” Annabelle asked.

“Yeah,” Jasper grumbled.

“What's wrong?”

“It shit on me before it left.”

Annabelle didn't want to laugh. Honestly, she didn't. She laughed anyway. It was uncomfortable with the slab on her crushing her chest. “I think it was definitely one of Ramona's then.”

“Yeah,” Jasper snarled. “See? We'll be fine. Ramona likes you. She'll send help.”

“She likes you too.”

“No, she doesn't.”

“Why, because you yeeted that rat that was spying on you?”

Jasper growled. He hated the word 'yeet.' “Yeah, something like that, and it wasn't just me it was spying on though, it was both of us.”

“Well, they can't save me without saving you too. Besides... Victor and Nelli care about you.”

“I'm sure they do,” Jasper said dryly.

“They _do_ ,” Annabelle said with assurance. She was feeling a little more confident now that Ramona’s rat had gone to get help. Someone knew now, and rescue would come.

The darkness around them started to turn to a light grey. Rescue would indeed come, but it didn’t look like it would come fast enough. Annabelle could hear Jasper shifting, trying once again to move. He grunted and snarled with effort and pain. One piece of concrete moved against another above her.

“Careful... what are you doing?” she asked as more concrete dust rained down.

“Trying to... move this...” Jasper growled desperately, “so I can try to... block the sun...”

The sky was getting lighter and lighter. In the far distance, the chorus of of sirens continued as emergency crews tried to help other people affected by the earthquake. Annabelle knew that her friends or loved ones might be among those who needed help, but they were not her first priority at this moment.

“Please,” Annabelle whispered. It was almost a prayer. She pleaded that help would arrive for her and Jasper faster than the dawn would. “ _Please_...”

Unfortunately, the rising sun won that race.

A tiny, faint beam of light came through the hole in the rubble above Jasper and Annabelle. It would have hit Annabelle's exposed head, but for Jasper blocking it with his left arm and hand.

Jasper screamed.

It was the worst sound Annabelle had ever heard.

She started screaming too. “NO! _No, no, no, Jasper_!”

Where the light hit Jasper his clothes and flesh smoked. His scream was excruciating and seemed to have no end. He scrambled in a blind panic, his body desperately trying to escape in a frenzy. It was in vain. He remained pinned in place by the concrete and rebar on top of and through his body.

Annabelle watched and listened in horror. She also tried once again to escape, her Beast panicking. She clawed at the floor, trying to pull herself out from under the monstrous slabs. The concrete on top of her moved, making the piece Jasper was laying on above her shift as well, but not far enough to take him out of the sun.

Jasper suddenly stopped screaming. His silence was in many ways, worse.

“Jasper? _Jasper?_ ” Annabelle cried. She strained her neck to try to see him. She could smell his Vitae again, fresh and livid in the dusty air. She could also smell burning and that made her feel sick to her stomach. His flesh was still smoking. His skin, what she could see of it, was turning black and starting to shrivel. “ _NO! NO, JASPER!_ ”

Suddenly, there were voices above them and far away.

“Over here! I hear them!”

“HELP!” Annabelle screamed as loud as the weight on her ribs would allow her. She slapped her free palm on the concrete to make a sound to accompany her rough shouts. “HELP US! PLEASE!”

“Here!”

Annabelle gasped in relief. She thought she knew that voice. It was Victor's head of security. “Campbell?!”

“Over here!”

She could hear things moving above them as more voices called out.

“Cover the light!” Campbell shouted to the others he was with. “Get that tarp over here! Cover that hole!”

There were more sounds of movement and then the sunlight disappeared. Once again, Annabelle and Jasper were in darkness. Annabelle had never been so glad to be in darkness before. She sobbed, partly in relief that they were now safe from the sun, partly in fear and devastation. Help had come too late.

“Annabelle?” Campbell called from far above. “Can you hear me?”

“Yes!”

“We're from Mr. Temple's security! Can you get out?”

“ _No_ !” Annabelle sobbed again. “Please... _please_ help us! We're hurt bad! Jasper’s hurt real bad!”

“Mr. Temple will be on his way as soon as he can,” Campbell told her. “You're going to have to hold on a little longer, but we're going to start to dig you out. We have a tarp to keep the sun out.”

That was all well and good, but Annabelle knew they had been too late. She was mad, but impotently so. She couldn’t be angry at Campbell or Victor or anyone. Help had arrived as quickly as it could.

She strained again, trying to see Jasper. His left hand had turned dark and skeletal. It was still smoking gently. She watched fearfully, trying to see any ashes. She had seen vampires’ true death before. She knew there would be ashes if this was a true death, but everything was still. _Maybe he's just in torpor_ , Annabelle hoped, but she had no way to be sure.

“Can you hear me?” Campbell called down to her.

“Y-yeah,” she replied.

“We're going to start to dig you out, miss. Don't worry.”

Annabelle wanted to laugh at that line, but she didn’t have the breath for it.  She was already crazy with worry. “Okay! Be careful!” was all she could think to say.

“We will do our best!”

Annabelle felt something warm and fuzzy touch her free hand. It was a rat. She hadn’t heard it come, and she didn't know if it was the same one as before. It looked the same though, enough for Annabelle to make a safe assumption.

“You found help?” she asked it softly. “Thank you. _Thank you_.”

The rat made its way over to her face and sniffed her again. It licked at her blood tears.

Annabelle tried to flinch away. “No, don't. Don't. You're Ramona's... I think.”

The rat blinked its little black eyes at her.

“If you can understand me, please, _please_ check on Jasper,” she begged the rodent.

The rat did seem to understand. It scampered up towards his silent corpse. Annabelle watched its tail as it moved to help it keep balance.

“Is he okay?” she asked, her voice hoarse.

A minute later the rat came back down to her. It squeaked and twitched its whiskers adorably.

Annabelle cried softly. “If I get out of here, remind me to get Ramona to teach me how to speak rat, okay?”

Far above her, she could hear people shouting, the sound of machinery and rubble being shifted.

The rat curled itself neatly and comfortably in the crook of Annabelle’s elbow. Annabelle thought that it knew how scared she was. It as if it wanted to keep her company.

“Thank you,” she whispered again to it.

Annabelle didn't want to fall asleep, but she did, as it is the curse of most vampires to sleep in the day time. It was not an easy or a comfortable rest for her by any means.


	2. Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rescue came too late for Jasper, but can he still be saved?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It was while writing this bit that I knew this fic was going to be very, very long. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Annabelle was awoken many hours later by more voices. They sounded a lot closer this time, and that was good. Her Beast was extremely unhappy with her. She told it to get in line, because she wasn't happy either. Still, the voices made her hopeful. They were calling her name. She recognised Victor’s deep voice and also that of Nines.

“Annabelle?” Nines called

“Annabelle, can you hear us?” Victor added. He sounded very worried.

“I'm here!” she coughed painfully, tasting her own Vitae in her mouth. It felt like her internal damage was worse somehow. Maybe some of the rubble had shifted during the day, or maybe her body had had more time to bleed. She slapped the concrete to make a sound, worried that her voice wasn’t strong enough to be heard.

“She's awake!” Victor shouted to someone else up above. “Come on, let's go!”

Annabelle looked over to where the rat had been, but it was gone.

“Jasper?” she called up to him.

There was no response.

“ _Jasper_?”

Nothing.

 _Maybe he's okay_ , Annabelle thought. _Maybe he's not awake yet._ After all, she slept in later than usual, it seemed.

In desperation, Annabelle tried to pull on his blood through their Bond. Past experience told her that she could often wake him up just by quietly wishing that he would. She knew that normally, he would have been unhappy with her for doing this, but this was in no way a normal situation.

Still nothing. Jasper’s corpse was quiet and still. What she could see of his skin was still shrivelled and black.

Annabelle whimpered, starting to panic again. “No, _nonononono_...”

“Annabelle?” this was Nelli's voice now.

“Jasper's in big trouble!” Annabelle cried, her voice rough. It was too painful for her to scream any more. “He got burnt by the sun! Please, hurry!”

There was a pause while Nelli, with her heightened senses, relayed this information to the others. “Where is he?” Nelli asked with urgency. “Annabelle, is he…”

“He’s here! He’s pinned above me! I can see him a little bit. Please, Nelli, hurry…”

“We’re coming, Annabelle! Almost there, hang on!” Nelli sounded frightened.

Annabelle could hear someone, possibly Nines, counting to three and everything shifted. A big piece of concrete was lifted away and they were suddenly much more exposed. Annabelle could see flashlights and a spot light pointing down into her and Jasper's hole. She heard gasps and swearing from several different voices.

There was a heavy thud that shook free more concrete dust and Annabelle could see expensive male boots land near by. Victor's voice called out “Annabelle?”

“Down here! Victor!”

“Jesus...” Victor breathed. “We're coming, Annabelle.”

“Check on Jasper,” she begged.

“Yeah, I can see him... he's not looking good,” Victor said with grave concern.

“He got burnt by the sun,” she said.

“Yeah... I can see that. I can smell that.”

It was true. There was a rancid, burning smell coming off of Jasper's body.

“Is... is he dead? _Dead_ dead?” Annabelle asked, very afraid of the answer.

“I think... he's in torpor,” Victor sighed in relief, inspecting Jasper’s body. “He's still intact. No ashes.”

That was a relief, but Annabelle was still extremely worried. “Please, get him out!”

“We're working on it,” Victor assured her. He called back up to the others. “I can see Jasper! He's in torpor! Nines, get down here. I need you to lift this.”

There was grunting and more scraping and Nines' feet joined Victor's in Annabelle's vision. She could hear him swear faintly in Spanish.

“Hold on, Annabelle,” Nines said, loud enough for her to hear. “We're going to get Jasper out of here, then it's your turn. You doing okay?”

“No, please hurry,” she whimpered. Rescue was so close, but still so far, and she was finding it hard to control her distress. Her Beast wanted to panic again and she struggled to keep it in check.

“On it,” Nines grunted. He was shifting the heavy pieces of rubble and trying to be careful not to cause another collapse. “Shit... look at that Victor,” Annabelle heard him mutter.

“Damn...” Victor said.

“What?” Annabelle demanded. “What is it?”

There was a pause before either of them said anything. “Jasper's... got a big piece of rebar through his thigh and another through his stomach,” Victor said, “and it looks like he tried to escape by pulling sideways rather then up and out, because of the concrete that was blocking him.

Annabelle whimpered, her stomach churning unpleasantly at the mental image. It was horrifying.

“Okay... I'll get his head,” Nines said. “Victor, get the feet and we'll lift him up to Ramona.”

“Yep.”

Annabelle heard the men moving, shifting more rubble out of the way and getting into place.

“On three again?” Victor asked.

“Yes. Ready?”

“Yes.”

They counted together.

“One, two, three, lift!”

There was a horrible sound of iron against undead flesh. Nines and Victor barely made a sound of effort. Jasper's corpse, shrivelled as it was, was fairly light.

“Right, careful... easy now... got him, Ramona?” Nines called.

“All good!” Ramona responded, then a little louder for Annabelle to hear clearly, “He'll be okay, Baby B!”

Annabelle smiled. At last, Jasper was out. Also, she was glad Ramona was there.

“Okay, still with us, Annabelle?” Nines asked her.

“Yes!”

“Alright. Your turn. Hang on just a little longer!”

“Okay!”

Just as the concrete above her started to shift, there was further commotion and shouts from above.

“What now?” Nines asked Victor.

“I'll see what's up,” Victor said.

“I'll stay here,” Nines agreed. “Annabelle?”

“Yeah?” she coughed again.

“Something's going on, but it's okay. I'm right here,” he said in a low, comforting voice as Victor climbed carefully out of the hole. “Victor's checking it out. Ramona's got Jasper. He's messed up, but he's going to be okay.”

“Nines...” Annabelle whimpered.

She heard movement, then felt rough, cold skin touch her hand and hold it carefully. “I'm right here, Annabelle. I've got you,” Nines assured her.

“Nines, I'm so scared.”

“I know, but help is here now.”

“I think Jasper blocked the sun so it wouldn't burn me,” Annabelle whimpered.

“Looks like he did, yep,” Nines agreed.

“And Ramona's rat found us.”

“Yeah, that's how we knew where you were. Ramona called Victor and he sent his team on ahead and we all came as soon as the sun set.” He squeezed Annabelle's hand gently. “You had bad luck. The 'quake epicentre is only a few miles away from here. The roads are all messed up.”

Annabelle tried to swallow but coughed on the dry air. Her throat was parched. “Is there a lot of damage to the city?”

“There's some, but the only deaths so far are some people who crashed on the freeway. Don't you worry about them though. Let's just worry about getting you out.”

Victor's voice came back. “Annabelle?”

“Yeah?” she called up.

“Someone else has come to help out,” Victor said. He sounded apprehensive.

“Who?”

Another very familiar voice called down. “You alright down there, babydoll?”

Annabelle's eyes went wide and she gasped. “No...”

“Someone you know?” Nines asked.

“Carver?” she called in disbelief. There was a note of anger in her voice mixed in with a lot of surprise.

“Hey,” he called back. It was him. There was no mistaking that voice.

“Who's Carver?” Nines demanded.

“He's my...” Annabelle tried to explain, but Carver cut her off. Before she could finish, Carver was down in the hole near Nines. She could see his scuffed combat boots.

“I'm her sire,” he said, “and you must be Nines. I've heard a lot about you.”

Nines let go of Annabelle's hand. She strained and could just see them both. Carver looked the same as he had last she had seen him: multi-coloured mohawk, leather jacket, and all punk attitude. He looked down at her and tisked, shaking his head. “What a mess you've gotten yourself into.”

“You're here to help?” Nines asked, suspicious.

“Of course. She's my blood. Blood calls to blood, and I'm not so much of an asshole to abandon her in her time of desperate need.”

“Right,” Nines said, still suspicious. “Well... help me lift this big chunk of concrete off her then.”

The two elder Brujah worked together to free Annabelle the rest of the way. Their combined mastery of Potence made short work of the rubble. Annabelle never thought she'd be glad to see Carver, but she had to admit that his help was definitely valuable in this case.

Annabelle cried out in pain as the weight on top of her legs and lower body was finally lifted. She tried to look backwards at herself and didn't like what she saw. Both of her legs were obviously very badly broken. Carver was supporting the heavy slab that had been crushing her. His face was lined in concentration, but he managed to give her a wink. Nines scooped Annabelle up carefully and carried her out of the hole. Annabelle clung to him, wincing in pain. She bit her lip so hard in her attempt to not scream in agony in Nines’ face that she tasted her own Vitae. It made her Beast rumble. Behind her, Annabelle heard the concrete fall with a loud smash as Carver let it go.

Nines brought Annabelle up to the surface. Around her were battery-operated work lights, Victor’s security team and various Kindred she knew. They cheered when they saw Annabelle safely in Nines’ arms. He carried her to a tent, where Victor's crew had set up a kind of triage. Nelli was there, instantly fretting over Annabelle as Nines loaded her onto a cot. Annabelle felt dizzy and in shock. Everything kind of blurred together - faces, sounds, lights - all muddled in a haze of fading adrenaline and agony. Annabelle sobbed in pain, relief and hunger. Her Beast was roaring inside.

Victor's voice cut through some of the chaos. He was shouting to his staff. “I want volunteers! Only people who are willing. At least two or three, come forward!”

Some men obviously did. Through her haze, Annabelle could see Victor talking to them. He gestured to her. Annabelle blinked and looked over to another part of the tent. Nearby, there was a cordoned off area she couldn’t see into, with privacy screens like at a hospital. Something inside told her that's where Jasper was. She could feel another sob welling up inside.

“Shh, shh… you’re alright now,” Nelli said to Annabelle, trying to soothe her. Annabelle noticed dimly that Nelli had concrete dust on her clothes. She looked relieved and worried in equal measure as she wiped Annabelle’s concrete dust and blood tear stained face with a damp cloth. It reminded her of when they saved Nelli’s sister. “You poor thing, it’s alright. You’re safe.”

The three men Victor had been speaking to came over to Annabelle's cot. They were very carefully trying not to look at her horrible injuries. Victor was with them.

“Annabelle, this is Walsh, Kemp and Perry,” Victor said, “and they are all volunteering to help you out.”

The three of them nodded to confirm this. They were rolling up their sleeves to each expose one wrist.

Annabelle smiled through her pain as her Beast rejoiced. “Oh, thank you!”

“It's alright, miss,” the one she thought was Perry said.

“And I'm here just to... keep things under control,” Victor smiled a little wearily. Annabelle knew what he meant. He was there to stop her from killing any of them. She appreciated that too.

One by one, each of the three men offered Annabelle his wrist and one by one she drank. She healed as best she could in between each sip. It was painful, but necessary. They could hear her bones moving under her skin. By the time she was finished, she had nearly healed all of her damage. Annabelle waited while Victor removed the memory of the blood drinking and healing from Walsh, Kemp and Perry's minds and dismissed them. Then she stood up on shaky, but usable legs, and gave Victor a grateful hug. Victor returned it.

“Thank you,” Annabelle said, her face muffled by his clothes.

“Hey, of course. We've got each other's backs. Always,” he reminded her. Annabelle thought he hugged like a dad. She could also hear how relieved he sounded.

Nelli all but pushed Victor out of the way to hug Annabelle as well. “Oh, darling,” Nelli said, “what were you two even doing out here anyway?”

“We were looking for someone,” Annabelle mumbled. “We didn’t find them.”

“Who?”

“A friend of X’s. A runaway from the Camarilla.”

Nelli’s forehead creased as she frowned. She looked to Victor.

“We haven’t found anyone else down there, Annabelle. I don’t think X’s friend was here. I _hope_ they weren’t here.”

Annabelle nodded. “We didn’t see or hear anyone while we were… trapped.” The trauma of it was still fresh and Annabelle shuddered.

Nelli hugged her again, comfortingly. “How awful! I know how you feel. I've been there. It's awful.”

Annabelle nodded. “Jasper and I... we thought of that while we were down there. How...” she pulled back and looked at Victor and Nelli. “How is he?”

They shared a worried look. “He's not good,” Victor said softly. “His body took a lot of damage. He's in torpor.”

“Well... wake him up!” Annabelle demanded.

“That is not going to be easy,” Nelli explained. She dropped her voice to avoid humans from overhearing them outside the tent. “He's going to need blood. A lot of it. Kindred blood.”

“Well... we'll help him,” Annabelle said, not seeing the problem. “Surely you two...”

But the looks on Nelli and Victor's faces did not seem positive. “It's very dangerous, Annabelle,” Victor said in the same low voice Nelli had used. “He could Frenzy and kill us all very easily.”

“It also has to be an old vampire who does it,” Nelli added, “and we might not be old enough.”

“Why an old vampire?”

“Old Vitae is more powerful,” Nelli explained. “And you need a kind of… jump start to wake up from torpor early like that. We could just wait and see if he wakes up on his own, but that could take weeks, months… maybe years.”

Annabelle frowned. “We are _not_ waiting that long. I know one old vampire who _definitely_ owes me,” she said with anger. “Is he still here?”

“Um... which one?” Victor asked.

“Carver,” Annabelle growled.

“Yeah... Nines is talking to him.”

“I want to see him,” Annabelle insisted.

“Are you sure?” Nelli asked.

“Yeah.”

Victor and Nelli shared a look and a shrug. Nelli hadn't met Carver until this night, but she had been told all about him. She didn’t approve of him any more than Annabelle had approved of Chaz. They weren’t going to keep Annabelle from talking to him if she wanted to though.

“In fact, bring Nines and Ramona in too,” Annabelle said, “please.”

Victor poked his head out of the tent and called them in as requested. Ramona went directly over to Annabelle and gave her a hug. Nines and Carver appeared and lingered by the exit. There was a tension between them that was hard for Annabelle to place, but there was a rivalry for sure. Nines also did not like Carver. She had yet to meet anyone who did. Nines gave Annabelle a little smile, glad to see her doing better.

Annabelle returned Ramona's hug. “Thank you for sending the rat,” she said. “You saved us!”

“That was Meg,” Ramona whispered. “She likes you, even if she doesn't like Jasper very much,” she winked at Annabelle as she pulled back from the hug. “Glad to see you back on your feet, B.”

“Thanks. Thank you, _all_ of you,” Annabelle addressed the assembled Kindred, “for helping Jasper and I out of that hole. It was... it was hell. We wouldn’t have made it out without you.” Annabelle’s voice cracked with emotion. Nelli put her arm around her and she took a moment to compose herself again. She was avoiding looking at Carver, but she could feel him watching her. She collected herself, appreciating Nelli's support. “Um... but there's one last thing. Jasper… as you all know, he got hurt enough that he's in torpor. He needs blood from one of you to wake up.”

Victor and Nelli both looked back at Nines and Carver, suspecting them to be the two oldest ones there. The two Brujah shrugged, oddly mimicking each other.

“Carver,” Annabelle said sternly, “you in particular owe me.”

“Do I now?” he said with a smirk. His voice was like oil.

“Yes. You’ve caused me the greatest hurt.”

“As you recall, that was not me. I brought you back from that hurt, but I did not inflict it upon you,” he argued smoothly.

Annabelle set her jaw. “Even still, I feel owed by you. I want you to help Jasper.”

Carver sighed. “That would be very dangerous.”

“For him or for you?” Annabelle asked.

“For me. We all know what we can be like when we're hungry,” he smirked. Nelli shifted uncomfortably. “Besides,” Carver continued. “What I could give won't be enough. You just had to drink from three of Victor’s people and like you, it's going to take a lot to get him back onto his feet.”

“I also suggest we don't do it here,” Victor said. “My club in the Valley is still structurally good. The power’s out all over the city, but we’ve got lots of flashlights. We should move this little party over there before we do anything else.”

Annabelle took a step towards her sire. She looked him dead in the eye. He didn't flinch or step back. “That's fine, Victor,” she said, not looking at him. She addressed Carver. “Are you going to help, or are you going to take off again?”

“Is he really that important to you?” he asked, an odd softness to his tone.

“Yes,” Annabelle said with conviction. Her fists were clenched. Jasper was more important to her than most of them knew. “He took the sunlight that would have hit my head. You... kept me on this planet for your own reasons and he saved me. I would be ashes right now if not for him. Please... help him.”

Carver sighed. He scratched the side of his nose where he had a silver nose ring. “Okay, fine. I'll give what I can. I'll not even ask for anything in return, other than permission to hunt in the Valley afterwards and take my leave peacefully.”

“That's fine, man,” Victor assured him.

“But after that, you can’t _ask_ me to do something like this ever again.”

Annabelle was studying Carver's face. She had seen it in her dreams many times. Sometimes he was attacking her. Sometimes she was punching him until he was bloody mush. She saw something in his eyes now that she couldn't quite place. Was it pride? Maybe some other kind of affection? Was he glad she was okay? Annabelle couldn't tell, and she didn't want to know. “Fine,” she said tightly.

Carver nodded at her. “Let's get a move on,” he said.

“Right.” Annabelle took a deep breath and stepped back away from Carver. She looked at the little walled-off area where Jasper's body was hidden from sight. “Can I see him?”

Victor stepped over and shook his head. “He looks really, really bad, Annabelle. I don't think you should.”

“Is... is he in any pain?”

Victor shook his head again. “I don't think so.”

“Can he hear us?”

“If it’s a true torpor, then no,” Victor put a gentle hand on her shoulder. He reminded her a lot of Mark in that moment, trying to comfort her. “Why don't you go with Nelli and some of my guys to the club and we'll all meet you there?”

“With Jasper?”

He nodded. “Yeah, we’ll take him in another car. We just have to take some seats out to lay his stretcher down in the back.”

“And you'll wake him up at the club?” Annabelle confirmed. Her anxiety demanded that everything be laid out clearly.

“Yep.”

“Okay,” Annabelle sighed. She turned to Nelli and they went to a waiting SUV. Annabelle looked back at the pile of rubble that had once been the three story building that she and Jasper had been trapped under. She shivered. She was going to have some serious nightmares after all this.

Nelli sat beside her in the back of the SUV as they were driven to Club Maharani, Victor's new night spot in the Valley. Annabelle saw some of the damage to the city around them. Mostly, the streets were cracked and shifted. The white and yellow lines didn't match up any more in places. She saw one or two broken water mains leaking and bubbling water up from pipes below the streets. Mostly the buildings seemed fine, save for some minor cracks on some of the older ones and many broken windows, now mostly boarded up. Power was out still in big chunks of the city. Police were out directing traffic at intersections.

“The news is saying there have only been a dozen or so deaths, which is amazing, really,” Nelli told Annabelle. “I've checked, and all of our people are okay. That includes Mark and Elleanore.”

Annabelle sighed in relief. “That’s good. Thank you, Nelli.”

“Of course, darling. There’s some damage to a lot of buildings, and they’re not expecting any power or water to be restored for another twenty four hours, but it wasn’t as bad as the ‘89 earthquake in San Francisco.”

“I don’t remember that one. I wasn’t born yet,” Annabelle said.

Nelli looked mildly horrified at how much older she was compared to Annabelle, but the moment passed quickly. “Well, I remember it, and it was terrible. It was 6.9 on the Richter Scale. Dozens of people died, thousands were injured. This ‘quake was very small in comparison. It seems like, from what I can tell, the building you and Jasper were in was hit the worst.”

“It looked like it was ready to fall down anyways,” Annabelle mumbled. “We never should have been in there in the first place.”

“Well… how were you to know an earthquake would happen?”

“Yeah… I guess,” she sighed. Annabelle took out her phone. There was a massive crack across the screen and it wouldn't turn on. “Another casualty,” she muttered. “I’m going to need another new phone, Nelli.”

“Of course, dear,” she said, touching Annabelle's hand in a very maternal gesture. “We were so _worried_ about you! When we got that call from Ramona we moved as fast as we could, but the news had come right at dawn and we couldn't get there in person until tonight.”

Annabelle nodded. “It’s okay, I understand, but… I still wish we could have gotten out quicker.” She felt numb and worried. She was free and safe and her mortal loved ones were fine. Now all of her concern could go back to Jasper.

Nelli could read it on her face. “You’re worried about Jasper, aren’t you?”

Annabelle nodded again.

“Annabelle, he’ll be okay,” Nelli assured her. “He’s… tough.”

“I hope so,” Annabelle said softly. “It was _so_ bad, Nelli. We couldn't lift any of the rubble and the sun was coming up and… his scream when the sun hit him…” Her voice broke as she started to cry again. “That scream is going to haunt me forever.”

Nelli gave Annabelle another handkerchief for her fresh tears. “It’s all over now. You’re safe, and soon he’ll be back on his feet and sassing us as usual.”

Annabelle nodded, trying to pull herself together.

It took them a long time to get to the club, due to the disruptions to traffic. Once they were safely there, Annabelle and Nelli went inside with the security Victor had sent with them. The building was surprisingly brightly lit with battery powered lights. Some time later, the others arrived in their own SUVs. Jasper’s body was carried in on a stretcher, covered with a sheet. They took him down to the basement and all the Kindred gathered there. Victor had already connected this club to the underground tunnels as well, and he assumed Jasper wouldn't want to hang around once he was awake. Victor had his security wait outside. Things might get messy, and he didn’t want them caught in the crossfire.

The basement of the Maharani wasn’t as nice as the one at the Maharajah’s was yet. There were boxes still to be unpacked and a few chairs laying around. Some basic beds were set up just in case any vampires did need to crash there, but otherwise, it was mostly unfinished. The walls were bare, and the lights from the battery powered lamps and flashlights cast many dark shadows.

Annabelle sat next to Jasper’s covered body. He had been placed on one of the beds. She wanted to lift up the sheet to look at him, but couldn't bring herself to do it, not yet. Nelli sat down next to Annabelle on one side and Ramona sat on her other.

“He looks bad,” Ramona warned her. “Like… really gross. You _sure_ you want to see him?”

Annabelle nodded. “Yeah.”

“Okay,” Ramona said in a ‘don’t say I didn’t warn you’ tone.

Annabelle lifted the sheet covering Jasper’s face, just a little. She gasped in horror and dropped it, covering the face again. Beside her, Nelli balked and gagged. Ramona grimaced. Annabelle covered her mouth with her hands and took deep breaths. “That… he…”

“That’s what happens in torpor,” Nelli said. She swallowed down her nausea. “They, we… shrivel, like... corpses. Remember Nick?”

“Yeah, but… this is Jasper. He… it’s different, seeing him like this, compared to someone I hated,” Annabelle said sadly.

“Yeah?” Ramona said. Annabelle looked at her. She was grinning a little bit. Annabelle’s eyes went wide and she shook her head, silently begging Ramona to please not say anything. Ramona was the only one who knew some of the truth about Annabelle and Jasper’s relationship. Annabelle and Jasper had fought very hard to try to keep it that way.

“Yeah,” Annabelle said, “because he’s my _friend_.”

Ramona nodded and winked.

Annabelle took a deep breath and pulled the sheet back again. Jasper’s face was even more gaunt than normal, his skin pulled tight over his skull. His mouth was wide open in a silent scream. His fangs were exposed, long and sharp. His lips and gums were drawn impossibly far back. His eyes were closed, which Annabelle felt was a blessing. She didn’t want to see what his eyes looked like in this state. His skin had taken on a dark, rotten tinge mixed in with his usual pale and black veins. It was the most awful thing Annabelle had ever seen.

Most of the others had trouble looking at him as well. It was an awful reminder of what could happen to each of them, should they be so unlucky to experience it. Carver seemed the least affected, which didn’t surprise Annabelle one bit.

“So,” Carver said, “let’s get this over with.” In a move that disturbingly reminded Annabelle of herself whenever she fed Jasper in the past, he stripped off his leather jacket and pulled up his sleeve underneath. He produced a pocket knife and unfolded the blade. “Some of you should hold him down. He’s going to hunger frenzy. I’ve seen it before.”

"We should have some, um… something handy for him to eat then,” Nines said. He looked to Victor, this being his place and thus, food was his to provide if he could.

Victor looked to Annabelle and Nelli. The three of them knew Jasper’s ‘feeding habits.’ Nines didn’t. They were _all_ at risk. “Right,” Victor said. He hadn’t thought about what they were going to do after they woke him up. “Um…”

“I’ll stay and help him. I’ll make sure he doesn’t kill anyone,” Annabelle said quickly. She felt like Katniss from ‘ _The Hunger Games_ ,’ volunteering as tribute.

“Are you sure?” Victor asked. Nelli arched an eyebrow at her.

“Yeah. I’m strong. I’ll… I’ll be alright,” Annabelle said, trying to assure them.

“I’ll stay too,” Ramona said, surprising Annabelle.

She looked at her. “Ramona, I -”

“It’s fine. I’ve got your back, Baby B, and his too.” Ramona nodded to Jasper.

Annabelle was touched. She smiled at Ramona. “Thank you.”

Victor and Nelli didn’t look happy, but they shrugged. Annabelle would be safer with Ramona, that was true.

Annabelle wanted to proceed swiftly onward. “Okay, so…Once we have him under control, everyone else will go, except for Ramona and I, and you’ll send your people in, Victor,” Annabelle said, “more volunteers, if there are any, and… we’ll go from there.”

“Wait, why are the rest of us leaving?” Nines asked.

“Less chance of anyone else getting hurt,” Annabelle told him, hoping he would buy her semi-lie. “It’s okay. Ramona and I can handle him.”

Nines looked doubtful. “Alright, but… we’ll be right outside if you need us. Shout, alright?”

Annabelle nodded. “Alright.”

“Okay. Everyone hold him down,” Carver said. He wanted to get this done too, so he could leave. He stood at the head of Jasper’s bed.

Annabelle gulped. Tentatively, she put her hands on Jasper’s chest. He felt so frail, like he might fall apart if she pressed too hard. Ramona grabbed one of his arms. Nines went to secure the other. It was the one that had been burnt by the sun. It had a nasty black mark where the light beams hit him. Nines was careful not to touch the burn too much, mainly bracing Jasper at his shoulder. Nelli knew that she did not belong in anything that required a lot of physical strength. She took a step backwards and drew her knife to protect herself, just in case Jasper managed to throw everyone off him and attack. Victor held onto Jasper’s legs, one big hand on each of the Nosferatu’s shins.

Carver cut into his arm and willed the blood to flow. Everyone stirred as their Beasts reacted to the scent of the potent Vitae filling the still basement air. Annabelle wasn’t hungry enough to stare at the blood, but she saw Nines looking. Thankfully, Nines was able to hold himself together. Carver tilted his arm over Jasper’s face so that the Vitae dripped into his open mouth. Annabelle thought it might be only a few drops, but it kept going. Vitae flowed in a thin, steady crimson stream. Carver was careful not to let his arm get too close to Jasper’s mouth. Everyone waited, ready for the worst.

Seconds passed.

Nothing happened.

Then Jasper’s eyes snapped open and a vicious, inhuman _snarl_ rippled out of his throat.


	3. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasper slowly recovers from his injuries as he and Annabelle share some truths with Ramona.

Jasper tried to lunge upwards towards Carver and the source of Vitae, blinded with pain and hunger. He was stopped by the weight and pressure of four Kindred holding him down. They all exclaimed in alarm.

“Woah!”

“Careful, hold him!”

“Shit!”

Carver took a half step backwards, clutching his knife. He kept his arm over Jasper’s mouth, kept the Vitae flowing. A few drops missed their mark, but the more Jasper drank, the less his body thrashed and strained against the people holding him. Everyone exhaled in relief as slowly Jasper calmed down. He settled back onto the bed and made a disturbing, gurgling, snarling noise. His skin changed. It lost its decrepit tone and became a little more like his old self. True, his Nosferatu skin was not the prettiest to begin with, but it was still an improvement. Jasper also seemed to flesh out a little more and became less withered.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Carver said. He forced his wound closed with a faint grunt of effort and the blood stopped. Carver licked the red remains off his skin and stepped back further to put his jacket back on. Jasper growled and tried once again to move, only to be held down.

“Jasper?” Annabelle said.

He didn’t reply with words. His Beast was still in control. He turned and snapped at Nines, who tried to move clear while still holding him down.

“Jasper, stop it!” Annabelle said firmly. “ _Calm down!_ ”

He looked at her, growling and hissing. His eyes blazed. His fangs were bared in a fierce and frightening display.

“Jasper, _stop_ ,” she said again, trying to pull with her blood. She wasn’t sure if it would work, but she had to try. She was sure Jasper would forgive her for it later. “You’re _okay_ , you’re safe.”

Jasper blinked and the tension slowly left his body. His Beast was angry and hungry, but his blood, what remained of it, could not disobey such a direct order from his regnant.

Jasper groaned and relaxed slowly onto the bed once again. He closed his eyes, wincing in pain.

“Jasper?” Victor asked, hesitantly. “Are you with us, man?”

“Yeah,” Jasper said. His voice sounded very dry. He swallowed, but it did nothing to make his voice sound better. He opened his eyes again and winced at the bright battery lights. “Where am I?”

“Club Maharani,” Victor said. “There was an earthquake. You got… pretty messed up.”

Jasper didn’t reply, he just swallowed again.

“Are you okay now? Can we let you go?” Victor asked.

“Yeah,” Jasper said. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Slowly, Victor, Nines, Ramona and Annabelle let go of Jasper and stepped away. Nelli didn’t put her knife away yet, but she sighed in relief. Annabelle didn’t move as far back as the others. She lay a hand on Jasper’s unmoving chest, watching his face. His clothes were still powdered in concrete dust, and it had caked and turned red at the sites of his injuries.

“Do you remember the earthquake?” she asked quietly.

“A little bit. How long was I out?”

“Um… only a day. You got hit by sunlight,” Annabelle said, trying to keep her voice steady.

“That would be why my arm hurts so much,” Jasper looked at his burned arm and hand and winced with a faint snarl.

“Victor’s security found us and put a tarp up to keep the sun away. They started to dig us out during the day and then everyone else came when they could first thing tonight to dig us the rest of the way out.”

“Oh,” Jasper looked around at the assembled faces, many of them worried for him. He was not used to the attention. “Um... thanks. Whose… blood was that?” He licked his fangs again.

“Mine,” came Carver’s voice from behind Jasper and out of his line of sight.

Gingerly, Jasper sat up and turned. He looked surprised to see Annabelle’s sire. Carver gave him a little wave.

“Thanks,” Jasper said again, awkwardly.

“You’re welcome, but don’t thank me, thank her,” Carver gestured to Annabelle.

Annabelle was smiling faintly at Jasper, glad he was out of torpor.

Victor spoke up. “Okay, well, we are all very glad this whole ordeal is… well, it’s not over yet, but everyone’s going to be okay, and that’s what’s important. Um, Jasper… we’re going to give you some space now, give you a chance to heal. I’ll send some volunteers down in a few minutes to top you up.”

Jasper blinked at Victor, trying to get his brain up to speed. “Okay…”

Victor held out a hand to Nelli, who finally put away her knife. She gave Jasper a smile which he did not return and they exited. Carver went with them, giving Jasper a side-on glance as he passed. Nines hesitated at the door, not quite trusting Annabelle and Ramona alone with Jasper in this state. “You shout if you need us, okay?” he insisted.

“We will,” Ramona assured him with a cheeky smile.

The door closed, leaving Jasper alone with Annabelle and Ramona. Annabelle glanced around at the dark shadows in the flashlight-lit basement, suddenly nervous and remembering being trapped under the collapsed building not that long ago. She hoped that she would recover from this anxiety soon, or she’d never be able to go underground ever again.

Jasper looked at Ramona. “Aren’t you leaving too?”

“Nope! I’m here to help make sure you don’t lose control,” Ramona winked at him.

Jasper moved to get off the bed, but Annabelle stopped him. He groaned in pain.

“Not yet,” she said. “Heal a little first, then get up.”

Jasper wanted to argue, but didn’t. “Remind me to tell Victor to put some more chairs or something down here,” he said, glancing around. “My sanctum is nicer than this place right now… assuming that my home hasn’t collapsed into the ground in the earthquake.”

“Apparently, the 'quake was really small, actually,” Annabelle said. “Most of the rest of the city is okay. We just had the bad luck to be in the worst building, I guess. I’m so glad you’re okay. It was so horrible seeing you like that, Jasper.”

“Well… I’m not out the woods quite yet,” Jasper snarled. Annabelle could see the hunger in his eyes. He was twitchy and agitated.

The door opened again and two men came inside. They were dressed in suits, like how Victor liked his security to be. They looked nervous, especially when they saw Jasper. “We’re the ah, volunteers from Mr. Temple.”

“Hey, boys,” Ramona grinned at the two security guards. “Can you do me a favour? We don’t need you just yet, but if you can just wait over there and maybe plug your ears? I want to have a private talk over here.”

The two guards looked a little confused, but they did as Ramona asked, moving to the opposite side of the basement and pressing their palms to the sides of their heads. Ramona have them a cheery thumbs up and turned back to Annabelle and Jasper.

Before Ramona could say anything else, Annabelle hugged her tightly. Ramona returned it.

“Thank you again,” Annabelle repeated, feeling the need to over-express her gratitude. She was trying not to cry again. “Thank you _so much_! You saved us. Your rat… if you hadn’t called Victor… we’d be…”

“Ashes?” Ramona said, finishing Annabelle’s sentence. “Aww, it was no problem, B.”

“We owe you big time,” Annabelle said, pulling back.

Jasper arched an eyebrow at her. Annabelle caught the look.

“Yes, ‘we,’ Jasper. She saved you too.”

Jasper sighed and nodded. He couldn't deny that. “I know, I just don’t like owing people.”

“What about Eva?” Ramona teased.

“What _about_ her?” Jasper growled.

Ramona grinned and chuckled. Her fangs were almost as big as Jasper’s. It made her otherwise adorable, youthful face terrifying and fierce. “I know you and her owe each other a lot. The rat pack sees and hears _all_.” She wiggled her fingers ominously.

Jasper narrowed his eyes at her. “So, what do you want?”

“Mmm?” Ramona asked.

“For saving us. What do you want?”

“Well… I want you to answer some questions.”

“What happened to the rat pack seeing and hearing all?” Jasper smirked.

“Well, since you yeeted Meg out of your sanctum-”

“Is it too much to ask for privacy?” Jasper tried to gesture with his sunburned arm and hissed.

Ramona sighed. “Even still. And I also want you both to make me a promise.” She looked to Annabelle.

“What’s the promise?” she asked.

“We’ll get to that. Questions first.” Ramona waited, staring at them to see if either Jasper or Annabelle would protest. Neither did, so she continued. “What the _hell_ is going on between you two?”

Jasper and Annabelle glanced at each other. Neither spoke for several moments.

“Something… we don’t want anyone else to know about,” Annabelle said softly.

“Is it a Blood Bond?” Ramona guessed.

Annabelle nodded, looking at the floor. She fiddled with the bracelet Jasper made for her.

“I knew it!” Ramona hissed triumphantly. She pointed from Jasper to Annabelle. “You feed from her?”

Jasper nodded.

“Yeah,” Annabelle confirmed.

“And then that’s moved on to…” Ramona made a circle like an 'o.k.' symbol with her finger and thumb in one hand and thrust a finger from her other hand in and out of that circle.

Annabelle would have turned red if she had Blush of Life on. She nodded. Jasper rolled his eyes.

Ramona grinned. “Hey… I’m not judging.”

“You _so_ are though!” Annabelle argued. “I have a whole text argument with you judging! Or I did… on my old phone.”

“Hey,” Ramona said in defense, “to be fair, it _is_ a little gross.”

“Would you care to explain, Ramona, exactly what you find ‘gross’ about it?” Jasper challenged. His tone was dangerous.

Ramona hesitated in her answer. She looked like she was quickly changing her mind about what she was going to say. “Just… you know… um…” she cleared her throat. “Blood and stuff. Anyway… so… you have a Blood Bond! That’s wild!”

“Yes, and we do not want anyone else to know about it,” Jasper growled.

“Okay, okay. Hey, I haven’t told anyone yet and I don’t have plans to tell anyone in the future,” Ramona assured them. “Just a few more questions. Annabelle…” Ramona looked at her, dead in the eye. “Do you love him?”

Annabelle hadn’t been expecting this question. She felt a brief, but powerful panic. She _did_ love him. She had loved him for a long while now. She had danced around telling him, or almost telling him several times, and now she was being forced to admit it out loud. Annabelle nodded and took Jasper’s non-injured hand. “Yeah.”

“And do you feel the same for her?” Ramona looked up at Jasper.

“I don’t like using that word, but yes,” he said.

“Is that you talking, or the blood?”

“It’s me,” Jasper said. “She doesn’t use the blood against me… very often.”

It was Ramona’s turn to arch an eyebrow. “‘Very often’?” she repeated.

“It happens sometimes,” he said. His tone was tense, unhappy with spilling his and Annabelle’s secret relationship and still in a lot of pain. “But rarely intentionally.”

Annabelle almost wasn’t listening. She was in a small daze. “ _Oh, my God!_ ” she thought to herself, her mind racing. _“Jasper loves me too? Well… is that so surprising…?”_

Then something that Jasper had just said cut through her thoughts and she blinked. “Well… Yeah,” she admitted, “but I feel bad about doing it, and I’m sorry, but like… I just wanted you to calm down and not kill Nines just now...”

Jasper squeezed her hand. “It’s okay,” he growled softly.

Ramona looked from one to the other and smiled again. “Aww, you two are the cutest couple! Tall and small! So sweet! Honestly. Now, I do feel the need to remind you to be safe, though. Keep your Beasts under control.”

Annabelle nodded and smiled. “I’m… so glad you’re taking this well.”

“Hey, if you two have found a little bit of happiness together in this crazy, dark world, then more power to you, I say. Just, ya know, be careful,” Ramona winked at Annabelle. “That’s the promise I want you two to make to me; that you’ll be careful with your whole…” she waved her hand in a vague circle at them, “arrangement.”

“We _are_ careful,” Annabelle said, nodding. “We’ve had a few close calls, but… we are careful.”

“Okay, well… promise me you’ll be safe. No more ‘close calls.’”

“We promise,” Annabelle said. She squeezed Jasper’s hand to prompt him to say the same.

“Cross my heart and hope to die,” he said. His tone was sarcastic, but Ramona was satisfied nonetheless.

“Great! So… you still need some blood, Jas, and I’m not about to let Annabelle just… stress her body out any more than she has already, so… if it’s all good with you,” Ramona smiled slowly, “I will offer myself to you as well.”

Both Jasper and Annabelle blinked in surprise.

“What?” Jasper asked.

“Really?” Annabelle said at the same time.

“Yeah!” Ramona confirmed. “Just this once.”

Jasper smirked. “That’s what Annabelle said when this all started.”

Ramona laughed. “Trust me though, I have no intention of letting it go any further. You’re not the first dude I’ve let taste my blood, and I’d be surprised if you’d be the last.”

“Yeah, Annabelle told me about Rags,” Jasper said.

“Oh, yeah… I should check on him, huh?” Ramona shrugged. “Later. So, are we doing this?”

Jasper clenched his jaw. The hunger pains from his Beast were almost as bad as the pain in his arm, leg and stomach.

“Jasper?” Annabelle squeezed his hand again.

He looked at her. He knew that taking Annabelle’s Vitae, though she gave it willingly, still stressed out her Beast. She also still had some healing to do from their ordeal in the rubble. Jasper didn’t like feeding from Annabelle while she was injured. It made him feel guilty. Jasper also realised, in a moment that surprised him, that one of the main reasons why he hadn’t said ‘yes’ to Ramona yet was because he was waiting for Annabelle to give him permission. He didn’t like that. He suddenly wanted to disappear, to leave this situation.

 _“But if not now, when?”_ his Beast hissed inside him. _“If not them, then who? And they are offering it so willingly… we can have them both!”_

“It’s okay… she’s offering… and you need it,” Annabelle said softly.

Ramona rolled up her sleeve and showed Jasper her wrist. “Yes? No? Last chance.”

Jasper sighed harshly. “Okay, fine. But seriously… this is the only time, Ramona.”

“Yup, only time,” Ramona agreed cheerily. She sat on the bed next to Jasper. Jasper shifted his sore legs over reluctantly to give her room.

Annabelle pulled a chair over to the bed and sat. She took Jasper’s good hand again, wanting to remain in contact with him. She was almost snuggling with him, feeling okay with doing so for the first time in front of someone else. Annabelle cast a glance over to the security guards on the other side of the room. They still had their ears covered and were doing their best not to look at the vampires.

Ramona smiled. “Do you want to bite or cut me?”

“Bite, I guess,” he muttered. “Am I going to owe you for this too?”

“Nope! This is on the house.”

“Because you like me so much?” Jasper said sarcastically.

“Hey, _I’ve_ got no issue with you. Meg does.”

“The rat?” he asked flatly.

“Yup.”

Jasper rolled his eyes.

“Tell her thank you from us,” Annabelle said.

Jasper had a faint memory of the rat shitting on him before it left to go get help, but he kept his mouth shut.

“I will tell her that, Annabelle,” Ramona said.

“Can we do this?” Jasper asked, cutting them off.

“Yeah,” Ramona said, getting back on track. “Here.”

Ramona gave Jasper her wrist. He wriggled his good hand out of Annabelle’s grasp and gripped Ramona’s arm firmly, but gently. Annabelle bit her lip as she watched. Jasper could see a vein in Ramona’s arm and decided to go for that. He bore his fangs and bit down. Ramona didn’t flinch. She remained very still for a few seconds, then Annabelle saw her blink and swallow in surprise.

“ _Oh_ …” she said softly.

A smile crept onto Annabelle’s face. Ramona made eye contact with her and gave her a slow nod. Annabelle could tell that Ramona understood now, maybe a little more than before, why Annabelle had kept going back to Jasper for more.

Jasper finished drinking and pulled back. He licked Ramona’s wrist and let her go.

“Thank you,” he said very quietly.

“Yeah… no problem,” Ramona said, getting off the bed. She did an impressive job making her voice sound casual.

“What was it like?” Annabelle asked Jasper, her curiosity getting the better of her.

He considered for a moment, licking his teeth. “Good,” he shrugged. “Wild. Like… the difference between venison and beef.”

Annabelle looked to Ramona. “You okay?”

“I am all good, and I’ve got those boys over there to top me off,” she nodded towards Victor’s security on the other side of the room, “but I think one of them is for you, Annabelle.”

“Well… that’s okay. Um… Jasper, you heal a bit and then… my turn? I guess?”

Jasper looked uncomfortable. He did not like to be seen feeding and that had happened too many times tonight already. That said, what Annabelle proposed made sense, and it would put him ahead in terms of healing and keeping his Beast under control. He nodded. “Fine. But then… I want to check on my sanctum. Make sure it didn’t get damaged in the earthquake. I want to go home.”

Something about the way he said that made Annabelle’s heart hurt. She stroked Jasper’s arm. “Of course, Jasper.”

He concentrated on trying to heal the wound in his stomach. In his panic at being hit by the sun, he had managed to rip a very large hole in his side trying to escape from the iron bar he had impaled himself on there. His vampiric nature meant that he wouldn't die from the wound, but it hurt. He closed his eyes, grunting softly as he willed his flesh to knit, fueled by the Gangrel blood he had just drunk.

Before he first fed from Annabelle, he had grown very familiar with the taste of Gangrel Vitae thanks to Tara, his former prisoner. Ramona’s blood was a little less wolfish than Tara’s had been. Ramona was more… Jasper’s first instinct was to think ‘rat,’ but that wasn’t it. He knew the taste of rats very well from his evenings spent with Gary Golden and his childer. Ramona’s Vitae had been far more savoury and satisfying. So, not rat, but perhaps something more bird-like.

Jasper sighed in relief as the pain in his abdomen disappeared. His Beast gave a half-hearted grumble. It knew it was going to feed again soon. It was tasting all kinds of Kindred blood tonight.

He looked at Annabelle and she smiled at him. “Better?”

“A little bit, yeah.”

He let Annabelle check his torso. Ramona was watching them, a little tilt to her head and a small smile on her face. Jasper wanted to say something biting or sarcastic to her, but considering all she had done to help them, he kept quiet.

“You could go home now, if you want,” Annabelle suggested to him. She could see how hurt and uncomfortable he was, and knew that in times like this his biggest instinct was to hide in his sanctum. “I can catch up with you later.”

Jasper shook his head. “No, it’s okay. I’ll feed and… I should thank the others, properly.” He looked at the ground. “They went out of their way to help me, and I genuinely needed it this time. Even…” he frowned and looked at Annabelle, “Carver? _Really_?”

“Yeah,” Annabelle chuckled dryly. “I was surprised too.”

“He must want something,” Jasper assumed. “He doesn’t do anything selfless, from what I can tell.”

“In this case, I think I was able to appeal to his… better nature,” Annabelle said.

Jasper and Ramona both snorted derisively.

“Well, okay, sure. He’s… scum, but…” Annabelle sighed. “He was human once! He… well, Jasper, you’ve tasted his blood now. He woke you up. What do you think? What did you taste?”

Jasper thought about it. “I don’t… remember much about that. Just… hunger,” he growled at the memory. “But… his blood was very powerful, and old, and he was feeling… fear and relief.”

Annabelle frowned, looking at Ramona and Jasper. “Why fear?”

“Because there was a starving vampire within biting distance of his flesh and he’s not stupid,” Jasper said bluntly.

“Oh, right. But… why relief, then?”

“Just going out on a limb, but I think it was because you weren’t buried under a building anymore,” Jasper guessed.

Annabelle was frowning. “He doesn’t care that much about me though.”

“I think that, maybe… he might, Annabelle,” Jasper said slowly. “I know I said he didn’t, but...he went out of his way to save you, in his own way, at least twice now. True, he’s not the greatest role model. He was probably pretty irresponsible and self-serving in life too, but he’s gone out of his way to help you tonight and he hasn’t asked for anything in return yet, so far as you know, right?”

Annabelle nodded. “Just to be able to hunt later and to leave when he wants.”

“So, yeah. If what I remember about his blood is correct, he cares about you. All the Kindred who showed up to drag you out of that hole care about you,” Jasper concluded.

“They care about you too,” she said softly.

Jasper shook his head. “Maybe our coterie, and maybe you too, Ramona, I don’t know.”

Ramona shrugged, but smirked. “Eh, you’re alright.”

“But, I think,” Jasper continued, “that they all did what they did for me because you asked them to.”

“No, they… they do care about you, Jasper. They wouldn't have just… left you there, or let you burn if I wasn’t there,” Annabelle argued. She looked like she wanted to cry again. “Stop putting yourself down, Jasper, please? People _care_ about you, whether you want them to or not and whether I’m involved or not!”

Annabelle wrapped her arms around him and hugged him close. Slowly, he returned the hug, eyeing Ramona. Ramona looked sadly at him. Annabelle clung to him, as if afraid to let him go. He patted her back.

“Okay,” he said softly. “Okay. Let’s not leave Victor’s guys waiting too much longer, huh?”

Annabelle pulled back, sniffling and nodding. “Yeah, yeah, okay. Um…” she pulled off her jacket and rolled up her sleeve. She offered her wrist to him. He took it tenderly.

Jasper looked like he was about to bite, but hesitated and glanced at Ramona. “Do you mind giving us a minute?”

“Oh, um… I get it, cool. Yeah, sure, I’ll just go and, um…” Ramona gestured back over to the security guards.

Jasper nodded.

Ramona gave them one last cheeky smile, then headed across the room.

Jasper sighed and returned his focus to Annabelle.

“Do you… actually love me?” she whispered so only he could hear. “For real?”

He looked into her big, dark eyes and smiled as softly as his fangs and general visage would allow. “Yeah, of course.”

“Aww…” Annabelle welled up, but with happy tears.

“Shh… don’t cry.” He brought her wrist up to his mouth and kissed it gently, once, before biting into it.

Annabelle winced at the pain, and sighed quietly when the pleasure came. Jasper only drank a little. He held back due to the lack of privacy and mindfulness of her injuries. In a few seconds, it was over and he licked her wound closed. Annabelle leaned against him and he put his good arm around her.

“Are you going to heal a little more?” she asked him. She looked at the horrible hole in his leg.

“Yeah, I’ll try.”

Annabelle felt his body tense in pain as he once again tried to heal. She held him as the wound in his leg slowly, agonisingly, disappeared, leaving only the tears in his jeans where the rebar had punched through. He groaned in relief. She gave him another little smile.

“That looks better,” she said.

“Yeah. It’ll do,” he agreed. Jasper stood up off the bed and Annabelle rose with him. He wasn’t nearly as unsteady on his feet as she was worried he might have been.

“Are you going to go? Do you want to talk to Victor or anyone first?” Annabelle asked.

Jasper wanted to leave but he knew it would make the coterie upset of he just ghosted after all they had done for him. “Yeah, I’ll hang out for another few minutes.” He nudged her a little towards Ramona and the guards. “Go and… do your thing.”

She took a step and looked back at him. “Okay, but, don’t disappear.”

Jasper shook his head. “I won’t.”

Annabelle smiled a tiny bit and headed over to feed from a consenting security guard with Ramona.

Afterwards, Victor removed the guards’ memories of having been in the room with the vampires and everything they had heard and seen in there. He dismissed them and gave Jasper an appraising smile. “Glad to see you back on your feet. You look better.”

Jasper nodded. “Thanks for everything.”

“You’d do the same for me, I hope.”

“Well…” Jasper said, considering saying no, but he smirked and Victor saw he was joking. Victor chuckled.

Nelli came into the room behind Victor. “Jasper, Annabelle,” she said in a stern tone. “Don’t either of you scare us like that ever again,”

“It’s not like we were trapped in an earthquake on purpose,” Jasper said, rolling his eyes.

Annabelle gave Nelli a little hug. Nines was waiting behind her and Annabelle hugged him too. “Thank you,” she said in his ear.

Carver lingered in the doorway, clearly wanting to leave almost as much as Jasper did. Annabelle pulled back from Nines and eyed him.

“I’m not a hugger,” Carver said, “so don’t feel obliged.”

“Good,” she said. Her voice was a little stiff. She still disliked Carver strongly. “Thank you for helping us.”

He shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.” He glanced around at the rest. “If we’re all good here now, I’m going to head off.”

Victor nodded. “Yeah, I think we’re good. Um… be safe out there.”

Carver scoffed. “Safe is boring.” He gave Annabelle in particular a little wave and blew her a kiss. “See you around, babydoll.” And with that, he was gone.

 Annabelle rolled her eyes. “He knows I hate that,” she muttered.

 “Yeah, that’s why he does it,” Jasper said.


	4. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jasper makes it back to his sanctum. He checks up on a few things and people and reunites with Annabelle for a private moment.

It was a very long walk back to Jasper’s sanctum. Jasper insisted on walking, although Victor offered him a ride, because he wanted to check on any and all damage underground. Annabelle was going to meet him at his sanctum later, when she could make excuses and get away. There was evidence of minor structural damage all along the subway tunnels. Long cracks went up to the roof and several areas were flooded from burst pipes.

Still, Jasper supposed that things could have been a lot worse. He had done a paper in school on the big 1989 earthquake, and everyone was saying that this one hadn’t been as bad as that one. Jasper was glad. He and Annabelle had barely survived this. He snarled, angry at himself. He could see that that old building wasn’t structurally sound, but they had gone in anyway.

Jasper held his burnt arm close to his side, trying not to think of the pain. He knew that he was out of the healing salve Eva made for him last time he was burnt. If she was okay, he might trade her something for more. That reminded him, of course, to make sure Eva and the other Tremere were okay after the earthquake. He should check in on Gary Golden and the other Nosferatu too, but he assumed they were fine. They were far older and more experienced then he was. Gary had seen plenty of earthquakes in his time.

The pain of the burn was worth it though, because the sun had hit him and not Annabelle.

Jasper’s thoughts circled back around to everything that had happened since he woke up at the Maharani. It was a lot to deal with. He hadn’t expected to see Carver there, let alone to have his Vitae in his mouth. He also wasn’t used to the attention, everyone gathered around and fussing over him. It made him deeply uncomfortable. He had existed for years in the shadows of Kindred society. The spotlight hadn’t suited him in life and it certainly didn’t suit him now. He knew that if not for Annabelle, less than half of the Kindred who had been present would have given a shit about him. He could feel Annabelle’s fears and anxieties, and then her relief once he was awake and on the road to recovery. No one there, including himself, cared about him more than she did.

Jasper made it to the steel door that led into his sanctum. Inside, there was broken glass on the floor. One of his landscape paintings had fallen off the wall and the frame shattered. He had no electricity yet, like much of the rest of the city. Fortunately, he knew his sanctum by heart. He carefully picked his way around towards his workshop and found a flashlight. The beam of light revealed a few things knocked over and some very minor cracks that he would have to examine more closely later, but otherwise, everything seemed to be fine. Jasper sighed in relief. He already knew that later, he would check on the labyrinth, but, like the Nosferatu elders, he figured it would survive a minor earthquake just fine.

He wasn’t sure when to expect Annabelle over, but he knew she would arrive before dawn. Jasper decided to go out and check the park and see if he could find Eva while he waited. He changed his clothes to ones that weren’t covered in Vitae and concrete dust and left through his front door.

It was very eerie, seeing a large, modern city like Los Angeles in near darkness. The brightest lights down at street level came from the vehicles on the freeway, but they were few and far between. The lack of light pollution meant Jasper could see a lot more stars than usual. The moon was half full.

Jasper activated Obfuscate as he left the concrete riverbed, noting a few cracks there too that hadn’t been there 24 hours ago. He climbed up the hill towards the observatory. He could see that there had been a lot of human activity recently, and he noticed several people sleeping in tents or sleeping bags in the park. He assumed that they were out here because their homes had been damaged and they had no where else to go. He easily snuck by them unseen and unheard.

It took him a few minutes, but he did find Eva. She was gazing up at the stars, marveling at them on this clear night. He made himself visible as he approached her.

“Hello Jasper,” she said softly.

“Hello Eva,” he replied in hushed tones. Both of them were aware of the increased human presence and wanted to make sure their conversation wouldn't be overheard. “I hope you are well after the earthquake?”

“I am well, thank you. My home hasn’t suffered any damage,” Eva frowned a little at him, specifically, at his burn. “You’re hurt again.”

“Annabelle and I were trapped under a building, and we were unable to get out before dawn.”

Eva looked horrified. “Oh, no!”

“We’re both okay though. Victor’s team found us, but I bore the brunt of it.” Jasper showed Eva his arm. She touched it tenderly with her ice cold, pale white hands, examining the wound.

“You were very lucky, Jasper. This could have been a lot worse.”

“I know.”

“I don’t have any salve available at the moment, but when I can make you some, I will send it over,” she promised.

Jasper gave her a smile. “I was going to ask you about that. You read my mind.”

“Mmm, well, only in that I know you well, my friend,” Eva smiled at him warmly.

“What will I owe you for that?” Jasper inquired.

“We will discuss that later. There are too many people sleeping here tonight. I just came out briefly because I wanted to see the moon and stars,” Eva looked upwards again briefly, then back to Jasper. “But I’m glad to see you, and to know you are alright… mostly.”

“Same for you. Are the Sisters alright?”

“They have fared well. They are used to earthquakes.”

“Good,” Jasper nodded.

He felt a sudden pang in his chest and a pulling at his blood. Annabelle was on her way and wanted him badly. The Blood Bond was calling to him and he couldn't deny it.

“I should go, but I will see you again soon,” he said to Eva.

“Indeed. Have a good night, and rest that arm.”

“I will, thank you. Good night.”

Jasper headed swiftly back down the hill. He found Annabelle just as she had gone inside through the hatch. Annabelle had the privilege of being allowed inside Jasper’s sanctum more or less whenever she wanted. Normally, she would have called or texted on ahead, but Jasper’s phone was broken. He closed the hatch behind him and Annabelle hugged him tightly in the darkness of the tunnel. She was struggling not to cry again.

“Shh, shh… it’s alright,” Jasper said. “Has something else happened?”

“No, no, I’m just… overwhelmed by everything. It’s been the worst 24 hours,” Annabelle sniffled.

“It is been very, very bad,” Jasper agreed, hugging her with his good arm, “but the worst is over. Everyone else is fine. We’re okay.”

“I love you,” Annabelle said. She sounded like she had been bursting to say it. “That’s what I wanted to say when we were trapped. I’m sorry Ramona forced us, but… I love you. I have for a long time.”

“I know you do,” he said softly, “and as much as it terrifies me to say it, I love you as well.”

Annabelle pulled back. She had a new burner phone from Victor and could just see Jasper’s face in the light from it. “Why does that scare you?”

“Because we still have enemies who can and will use that against us.”

“I believe it makes us stronger,” she said. “It’s what drove you to… save me from the sun. You almost died! Jasper, seeing you in torpor… it was the worst! I know I said that before, but, I keep thinking about it and getting upset…” Annabelle trailed off as big, bloody tears fell down her cheeks.

“I’m alright, Annabelle. Don’t cry,” he reassured her. “I’m alright now. Come on. Let’s go.”

He took Annabelle’s hand in his good one and walked her down into his sanctum. Annabelle tried to collect herself, wiping her face again.

“Do you remember anything of it?” Annabelle asked in a timid voice. She was afraid of the answer. “It looked like you were in pain, but Victor said you probably weren’t.”

“I…” Jasper started to speak, then hesitated, remembering. He had never been in torpor before. It had not been an enjoyable experience. “I don’t remember a lot. I do remember pain though, from the building falling on us and from the sun, but after I… passed out, I think the pain stopped until I woke up again.”

“You tried to get away from the sun,” Annabelle mumbled.

“I’m sure I did.”

“But you took that sunbeam for me. You were screaming. It was the worst sound I’d ever heard.”

Jasper stopped at the threshold to his sanctum proper and looked at Annabelle. She seemed haunted. “Annabelle, I’m okay now. My arm will still take a while to heal, but… I’m okay. It was scary, I know, but it’s past now.”

She nodded. “You’re right. I just think… it will take me awhile to… you know…”

“Recover?”

She nodded again. “I haven’t been through as much… as many terrible things like that. I’m still trying to… cope, I guess.”

“Let me help you with that.”

“Yeah, that’s why I came here, I think, to fully reassure myself that you’re okay.”

Jasper nodded. Sometimes, seeing is believing when it comes to overcoming anxieties.

Jasper led Annabelle into the bedroom. “So far as I can tell, there’s not a lot of damage down here. A few cracks, but everything is structurally sound,” he told her. “And, we still have those candles. I got some new batteries for the ones that had burnt out.”

That made Annabelle smile. “That’s good.”

She and Jasper set about illuminating the room with the little fake tealights. Annabelle looked happier once they were all set up. “It’s amazing how just a little bit of light can cheer someone up, huh?”

“Yeah,” Jasper agreed. He pulled her close to him again. She still smelled like dust and concrete. “I have an idea,” he said slowly, as if thinking out loud, “that might help prove I’m okay." His voice was soft in her ear to give her a little shiver. “It might be a little tricky with one good arm, but I’ll manage.”

“What’s your idea?”

Jasper stroked Annabelle’s back, down to her ass. “It involves Blush of Life.”

“Oh, I see,” Annabelle said with a sexy little smile.

“Are you interested?”

“Mmm…” Annabelle considered. “Yeah, I think… I think that would be good. It’ll help us… unwind.”

Annabelle’s body became warm as she activated the Blush. Jasper started to undress her, taking off her jacket while she undid her pants. They both paused to remove their boots, then carried on. They started slow, but as more and more skin was revealed, they seemed urged to go faster, as if by an unseen force.

After her shirt and jeans were off, Annabelle attacked Jasper’s belt and fly. “You’d better have your Blush of Life on by the time I get this down,” she said in a low voice.

Jasper smirked and did as he was told. It made the pain in his arm a little more acute, reminding him of a bad sunburn he had gotten as a child, or of a time he had accidentally scalded himself from a hot kettle. He was about to say something about it, but then Annabelle’s hand was on his cock and he decided that sunburns were suddenly unimportant. He groaned as she stroked him into an erection. Annabelle tugged his jeans down the rest of the way and kneeled before him as he stepped out of the fabric and kicked them aside. Jasper snarled in pleasure as he felt Annabelle’s lips around him. She licked him slowly and stroked him up and down his full length with both her hands.

“That feels good,” he said softly. He removed his hoodie with a wince and tossed it aside as well.

“Mmm… good.”

Annabelle stayed down there for a few minutes, stroking and licking, but she had no intention of staying there all night. She stood up again and got onto her tiptoes to kiss Jasper. His hand went to her sex, pushing her panties aside to feel her. Annabelle moaned into the kiss as he found her clit and started to rub her. She wasn’t wet enough for what he wanted to do. Jasper lowered himself to his knees in front of her, taking her panties down her legs with him.

She stepped out of her panties and nudged them aside towards the rest of her discarded clothes. Jasper was careful not to move his injured arm too much, which was a shame. He wanted to grab her hips with both hands. Even still, he made the best of it. He gripped her ass with his good hand and brought her forward, keeping her close to him. “Oh…” Annabelle gasped. Jasper had eaten her out before, but never quite like this. Jasper brought his mouth to her sex and reached out with his tongue to lick her.

Annabelle gasped again and moaned faintly. She felt herself both melting and tensing at the same time. Her hands went to his shoulders and the top of his head to steady herself as he lapped at her clit. Annabelle’s knees started to shake a little as her pleasure rose.

Gradually, the pleasures pushed the anxieties temporarily out of Annabelle’s mind. She knew they might be back later, but she felt very much in the moment. She moaned and sighed softly, finding herself leaning on Jasper more and more.

Jasper pulled back and stood swiftly. He licked his teeth and wiped his mouth. He was hard, Annabelle was wet, they were both ready.

“Up,” Jasper growled. He did his best to scoop Annabelle up. She helped him with a small jump, straddling his hips and wrapping her strong legs around him. He supported her with both hands, snarling a little when his burned arm complained. Jasper took a few steps and leaned Annabelle’s back against the wall. She held onto him as he adjusted himself and slid inside.

“Mmm… _yes_ …” Annabelle moaned as Jasper started to thrust up onto her. He growled, kissing and sucking gently on her neck and shoulder. She could feel his fangs, but he was not hungry enough to bite down. He fucked her, hard and steady, for a long minute. Normally, he would have been happy to keep her there, to show off his strength, but although he had told her he was okay, his arm was protesting and some of his snarls were becoming those of pain instead of pleasure.

Jasper paused and made sure Annabelle had a good grip on him. Then he carried her to the bed, laying back with her on top. Annabelle took up the reigns without missing a beat, rocking her hips up and down and forwards and back on top of him. Jasper stroked his good arm up her chest, feeling her body as Annabelle moved. Annabelle reached around behind her to unhook her bra, freeing her breasts. Her dark nipples were hard and sensitive as Jasper stroked them. At the same time, she reached a hand down to stroke her clitoris, making herself moan and gasp.

Jasper planted his feet onto the mattress and raised his hips a little to give himself leverage to thrust up into her. Annabelle gasped in surprise, not expecting him to take over like that. “Oh, God! Oh… _yes!_ ”

Their hips slapped together in firm, steady rhythm. Annabelle leaned forwards and down and Jasper wrapped his arms around her. It was her turn to kiss his neck and shoulder, something she had rarely done. She did not mind his rough skin, distracted as she was by passion and her raising orgasm. She screamed, muffling herself with a pillow and Jasper’s shoulder as he continued to thrust into her, his cock rubbing her G-spot. Her body clenched and Jasper snarled, nearly climaxing himself. He slowed and Annabelle whined, sitting up a little.

“No, don’t stop,” she begged. “More… harder…!”

She rocked her hips against his, taking over once again. Jasper decided to let her and just held on. She rode him hard, hoping to make herself climax again, but Jasper beat her to it. He snarled as he came, sorry to end this particular encounter a little early. Annabelle didn't mind. She leaned down again and kissed him, one hand stroking his cheek.

Carefully, Annabelle dismounted and lay down next to Jasper. He put his good arm around her and both of them caught their breath.

“That was good,” Annabelle murmured.

“Yeah,” Jasper agreed softly. He shifted his arm and winced.

“You okay? How’s your arm?”

“It hurts, but I’ll be okay.”

Annabelle frowned, feeling a little guilty. “I’m sorry… do you want more blood so you can heal?”

“Not now. Tomorrow maybe. I saw Eva before you arrived.”

“Oh, how is she?”

“She’s good. She said she’ll make me more of that salve that helped my burn.”

“That’s good! That stuff was really good last time you were hurt.”

Jasper nuzzled Annabelle’s head. “But thank you though.”

Annabelle stroked Jasper’s chest, dissatisfied that he was still injured. She thought she ought to focus more on how lucky they all were that all their allies so far seemed to have made it through the earthquake relatively unscathed, but every time she saw Jasper’s arm, the thoughts of his painful sacrifice came back to her.

“First thing tomorrow, you’ll try to heal?” she asked.

“Yes,” he promised.

“I hate the thought of you being in pain like that,” she said softly.

“It will pass.”

Annabelle sighed. She stroked his chest and clung to him, feeling protective of him.

“I love you,” she said softly.

Jasper smiled. “Ditto.”

They fell asleep in far more comfortable circumstances than they had the previous day. Annabelle kept an arm around Jasper all night, assuring herself that he was safe.


	5. Relax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It will take them some time to recover from the trauma of the earthquake, but the first steps have been taken.

Annabelle dreamed about Jasper screaming, trapped under a collapsed building. She awoke, shivering and teary, still clinging to Jasper’s chest. They had both lost their Blush of Life during the day while they were asleep, so their bodies were cold. Annabelle sniffled, remembering her dream. She feared it would be the first of a great many PTSD nightmares to come.

Jasper stirred and snuggled her a little closer. “Shh… it’s alright,” he mumbled sleepily.

Annabelle sighed. “Just bad dreams.”

“I know, but they’re just dreams. We’re okay.” He kissed her lightly on the top of her head. “How are you?”

“Um, otherwise? Good, I think.” Annabelle hadn’t woke up any more hungry than usual and she had healed all her injuries already.

“Good.”

Annabelle rolled over to get her phone. “I want to see if there’s any news.”

“Alright.” Jasper let her go and re-evaluated his own injuries. He frowned at his burned arm and decided to risk pissing off his Beast by healing it. He snarled quietly as he focused on the burn and willed it to fade.

“Power got restored to the city a few hours ago,” Annabelle reported, reading her phone. She sounded relieved. “That’s good. They’re still working on water though. Oh… there’s a message from Victor. X is looking for us.” Annabelle gasped. “Oh no, X! He must be so worried about us! We’ll have to see him tonight.” She looked back at Jasper and smiled. “Hey, your arm looks much better!”

Indeed, Jasper had made some good progress. He looked happier, less in pain. The burn area had shrunk. What was still there still looked sore and red. “It feels a little better,” Jasper said.

Annabelle looked his naked body up and down, biting her lip a little. “You feel better?”

He saw the look on her face, felt her desire in his blood. “Yeah.”

“We… should go see X. He’s worried.”

“We will see him later. He knows we’re alive… kind of.” Jasper reached out to Annabelle. “I don’t know about you… but I feel like I have a little more I can give in regards to ‘thank God we’ve survived’ sex,” he said in a low, growly voice.

Annabelle smiled. Her cheeks turned pink and her body flushed with warmth. She didn’t hear so much as a mild peep from her Beast. The near quiet after the pain and angst it had gone through while she was trapped and healing felt almost blissful in of itself. “I like when you talk to me in that voice,” she said to Jasper.

He chuckled. She could feel his hands on her getting a little warmer and his cock twitched as his own Blush of Life was reactivated. Annabelle crawled over on top of him, positioning herself once against over his hips. She was also still naked from the night before. She rubbed himself against him, feeling him start get hard.

“Did you always use to growl like that?” Annabelle asked, her voice getting breathy as her arousal started to creep upwards.

“When I was alive? No, not really. It’s more of a… Beast thing,” Jasper explained. He put a hand to his chest, his fingers curved into claws.

“Mmm… well… I like it,” Annabelle purred, stroking his chest.

“It likes you too,” he growled softly. Her pussy was stroking up and down the length of his cock as it lay erect against his stomach. He could feel her getting slightly more wet with each movement of her hips.

“Does it?” Annabelle chuckled.

“Oh, _yeah_ …” Jasper sighed. “I think it loves you even more than I do. Of course… it would also drain you dry given the chance, but…”

“Mmm… good thing you have such a tight leash on it then.”

Annabelle’s hips shifted on top of him and he grunted softly. “Well… I try.”

Annabelle leaned down and kissed him. He responded by wrapping both of his arms around her back. He gripped her suddenly, pulling Annabelle’s body upright and closer to his face. “Come here,” he growled.

Annabelle did not protest in the slightest, resting her knees comfortably on either side of his head. She braced her hands against the wall as Jasper placed his hands against her lower back to keep her in place. Glad that he didn’t have to breathe, even with Blush of Life on, he started to lick her sex. Annabelle moaned softly at first, but her moans got louder as time went on and her arousal started to spike. Jasper licked her hard, deep and fast with great enthusiasm. She leaned back against his hands, her body writhing in pleasure.

“ _God_ , yes… fuck…” she moaned. She reached back behind herself to his long cock and wrapped her fingers around it to stroke him.

Jasper growled. The vibrations went through Annabelle like ripples in a pond.

“ _Fuck_ …” she moaned again. Her body twitched and she lost her grip on him, too distracted by his tongue and lips and growling. She could feel his fangs pressing into her tender flesh, could feel the tension in his jaw wanting to bite down, but resisting. Annabelle rocked her hips against his face, becoming lost in the lustful sensations.

“Fuck… Jasper…” Annabelle braced her hands against the wall again. Her thighs squeezed his head, but he didn’t seem to mind. “You’re going to… mm… make me cum…”

Jasper’s grip on her tightened a little and he growled again. That was the point, after all.

Annabelle tried to hold off, but Jasper’s tongue was relentless. She trembled and cried out loudly, eyes closed, her hips rocking harder against him. She felt a sharp pain as one of his fangs nicked her labia and she hissed. Jasper tasted a drop or two of Vitae and licked her harder, closing the accidental wound and making her writhe some more until she was breathless.

Annabelle’s thighs shook minutely as Jasper gently pushed her back down his torso. He wiped his face once she was clear. His mouth and chin were sodden with her juices. “Sorry, I cut you a little there,” he grinned, showing off the culprits.

“Mmm… it’s okay,” Annabelle breathed, still coming down from her blissful, hormonal high and getting ready to climb it again. “It’s not like… I’ll totally have to… get revenge or anything…” she grinned wickedly, showing off her own fangs.

Jasper arched an eyebrow at her. “If you do, that will be the last time I _ever_ use Blush of Life.”

“I’m kidding,” Annabelle assured him, rubbing her new extremely slick pussy along his cock once again.

Jasper groaned, his hips twitching.

Annabelle adjusted herself, gripped his cock, and slid it inside her. They gasped in unison as she slid down to his testicles. Annabelle’s hips started to rock again, feeling him move inside and hit her internal sweet spots. She leaned forward, holding onto his shoulders and embracing his face. He didn’t see any fear in her eyes, only love and passion. Normally, that would be unusual for a Nosferatu to see someone looking at them like this, but he was getting increasingly used to seeing it in her eyes. Annabelle’s hips still moved, rolling and thrusting gently. This was not as frantic a love making session as they often did in the past. She rested her forehead against his and he wrapped his arms around her back again. They moved together tenderly, breathing hard, undead hearts pounding.

As she moved against him, Annabelle could feel more and more of her anxiety she had felt ever since the earthquake drain away. They were safe, they were together, they were in love. True, they had survived in part because of their supernaturally resilient vampire bodies. Even though the vampire bane of sunlight had still given them some grief, Annabelle was grateful all the same. She smiled down at Jasper.

“What?” he breathed.

She paused in her thrusting. “Just… glad we’re still here.”

He stroked her back and kissed her face. “I’m glad too. Now… fuck me like _hard_ like you’re glad,” he challenged with a sexy snarl.

Annabelle’s smile widened as she rose to that challenge. She sped up her movements, still loving, but much more hot and heavy. She braced herself against Jasper’s chest and moved her legs into more of a squat over Jasper’s cock. She pumped herself up and down, moaning.

“Yeah… that’s it!” Jasper snarled.

Annabelle’s Brujah strength and endurance gave her all the power she needed to ride Jasper hard. He put his hands to her thighs, feeling her move on him and against him. It was good, and he couldn’t help but counter-thrust up into her.

As Annabelle ground her hips down hard against him, something that Ramona said popped into her mind. “Can you believe that Ramona wanted to join us?”

“No, she didn’t,” Jasper argued. “And even if she _did_ , I wouldn't let her.”

With a grunt and snarl of effort, Jasper sat up, surprising Annabelle. He didn’t want to talk about Ramona. He wanted to distract Annabelle from everything that had happened to them over the past few nights. He wanted to make Annabelle moan and scream. He shifted, pulling out, pushing her backwards, down to the mattress, then re-entering her with a firm thrust. Annabelle moaned loudly. Jasper fucked her hard, bending one of her legs up against his chest so that her ankle was against his shoulder. Annabelle’s head was nearly hanging down off the foot of the bed. He grabbed her throat and shoulder with his good arm as he pistoned in and out of her. Annabelle wailed in pleasure, her eyes rolling back in her head.

“Ramona has been spying on this bedroom enough as it is,” Jasper snarled. “We don’t need her  _in_ it too.”

“Okay… okay…” Annabelle gasped. “Oh, _God,_ you’re so deep…”

“Yes… this is _just_ for you, Annabelle.”

Jasper maintained his brutal, hard tempo, taking and giving pleasure in equal stead. He had enjoyed the slow lovemaking, but he still felt the need to prove to Annabelle that he was physically fit again. Besides, there would be time for more tender stuff again later.

Annabelle’s moans and gasps changed in pitch as she had another small climax. Jasper slowed, letting her recover a little. He stroked his hand down her chest and kissed her. She trembled, her leg shaking a little against his body. He leaned back a little and held her gently in place with his injured arm. He resumed his thrusting, going much slower and more tenderly once again. He had made his point, and he could tell that were was barely a thought going through Annabelle’s head now. In and out, he moved. In and out, in and out. Annabelle’s toes curled and she moaned faintly on every exhale.

Jasper continued at his steady pace, taking pleasure from every inch of her, glad that they were both still around to enjoy this. He had genuinely thought that when the sun hit him, that he was about to experience the true death. He didn’t remember being in torpor and he was glad for that, but he remembered Annabelle’s fears and worries mixing in with his own. Not now though. Now was just love and desire and near-overwhelming passion the likes of which most Kindred from his clan never get to feel.

Jasper thrust a little harder and faster, making Annabelle squeal and writhe.

“Yes, yes, yes!” she whimpered.

“I love hearing you moan,” Jasper grunted. He gave her a few extra hard thrusts and she cried loudly in response.

As much as he would have enjoyed doing this all night long, Jasper knew that all good things had to come to an end eventually. Jasper returned to his brutal rhythm from earlier, determined not to let up until he climaxed. He leaned down, spreading Annabelle’s legs wide as her head dangled off the edge of the bed. They clung to each other desperately.

“Yes… yes… give it to me, please!” she breathed in his ear.

He gave it to her, pumping hard and fast and deep until it was too much for him at last and he came. He snarled and nipped her shoulder in his enthusiasm, making Annabelle hiss and wince as his fangs scraped against her. He drew a tiny bit of blood, but quickly licked her wound closed.

With great care, Jasper pulled back and brought Annabelle with him. She was limp and trembling in his arms. They lay diagonally across Jasper’s large bed, catching their breath. They were quiet for several content seconds.

“Okay,” Jasper said, “ _now_ we can go see X.”

Annabelle chuckled and stroked Jasper’s chest. She knew it would take her a little while yet to be able to stand. “Mmm… in a minute.”

* * *

 Eventually, Annabelle and Jasper did get up, get dressed, and headed out to meet up with X. He was waiting for them at Club Maharani. Both Jasper and Annabelle made sure to drop their Blush of Life before they arrived at the club. Annabelle was pleased to see that the city had made a lot of progress in its clean up. People were getting on with their lives after the natural disaster, as people tend to do.

X scooped both Annabelle and Jasper into a big group bear hug when he saw them. His eyes were red, and Annabelle could tell he had been crying. Victor was standing near by, watching the happy reunion and chuckling at them.

“Oh, thank goodness!” X wailed, squeezing them both. Annabelle enjoyed the hug a lot more than Jasper did, who wriggled out of it as soon as he could. “I was so worried about you!,” X babbled, letting Jasper go and clinging to Annabelle. “Please don’t hate me! Jessica called me and she had moved to a different sanctum like, an hour before you arrived! She said she had a bad feeling about that place! I should have called you! _I’m so sorry_!”

“X, it’s okay!” Annabelle hugged him tight, then pulled back to look into his fretful eyes. “It’s okay. It’s not your fault. We’re not mad at you, and Jasper and I are okay now.”

“But…" X’s lower lip trembled and Annabelle hugged him again. He glimpsed Jasper’s still slightly sunburned arm and whimpered. “But Jasper got burnt!”

“I did, but I’m okay,” Jasper assured him. “It’s mostly gone.”

X pulled back and wiped his face. He looked exhausted.

“Have you been sleeping okay?” Annabelle asked him.

“Oh, no, no… no,” he shook his head at her.

She knew it was true because he said it three times. “Aww, well… hopefully now you will, now that you’ve seen us and you know that we’re still in one piece?” she suggested, rubbing X’s arm.

He nodded and gave her a hopeful little smile. “I um, I did have a dream about you two though.”

“Oh, did you?” Annabelle glanced at Jasper, suddenly nervous. “Um…”

“Let’s go for a walk, and you can tell us about it,” Jasper suggested. “There’s lots of people sleeping in the park, you can get something to eat.”

“Y-yeah, sure. That sounds good,” X smiled at them again, then turned to Victor and bowed. “Thank you, your grand Baron-ness!”

Jasper rolled his eyes and Annabelle tried not to giggle. Victor looked like he was seriously torn between telling X not to do that and wanting him to keep it up. “It’s fine, X,” he smiled at the Malkavian, then addressed Annabelle and Jasper. “Are you two… alright?”

Annabelle was momentarily worried that there was maybe some sign she had missed to betray what she and Jasper had recently been up to, like some ruffling of her hair or perhaps a shirt on backwards. Jasper didn’t have any mirrors in his sanctum. “Um… yes?” she squeaked, guilty. She quickly ran her fingers through her hair. Victor’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. It reminded Annabelle of when she had tried to lie to her human dad as a child, or when she had been called to the principal’s office at high school. She cleared her throat and tried again to convince him. “Yeah, Victor, we’re fine.” She looked to Jasper to back her up.

Jasper nodded to Victor. “I’m going to see Eva later about more of that healing stuff for the burn.”

“Oh, good. Good.” Victor still looked suspicious.

“Well, we’ll see you later,” Annabelle said, trying to leave before Victor could ask anything else. She hurried out the door. A slightly amused Jasper and a very confused X followed.

* * *

It was a long walk back to Griffith Park, but both Annabelle and Jasper enjoyed the fresh air. X also seemed happy, and Annabelle suspected it was in relief that they have made it through the earthquake.

“So… what was your dream that you had?” Annabelle asked once they were several blocks away from the club.

“Oh, um… well… I saw you, Annabelle, and you were underground but not like… in a cave or in a cave-in or anything. It was like a grand, carved tunnel, like a…” he searched his mind for the right words and snapped his fingers when he found them. “A _subterranean cathedral_! And you had a rope wrapped around your hand,” X mimed winding something around his right hand, “and it was braided and leather, except one of the strips in the braid was bright, blood red and it trailed down like a leash. Are you getting a dog?”

“Um… no,” Annabelle said. Trying to follow X as he described his visions could be a challenge at times, but she was desperate to know what he had seen in his dream. She was worried that it had something to do with her relationship with Jasper.

“Well good, because it wasn’t a dog at the end of the leash.” X bit his lip, and gave the impression that he would have turned pink if he could.

“What… was at the end of the leash?”

“Um…” X seemed very embarrassed, looking for any kind of distraction. “Hey, that’s a big crack in that building.”

“X,” Annabelle said, getting his attention.

“Yes?”

“What was at the other end of the leash?” she asked, although part of her didn’t want to know, and another part of her thought she knew already.

“What leash?”

“The one in your dream?”

“Oh! _That_ leash! It was um... “ he looked around and leaned in close to Annabelle. “It was Jasper on the end of the leash,” he whispered, embarrassed again, but also a little giggly. It was like he was sharing in on a naughty secret, which was more true than not.

Annabelle’s suspicions were confirmed. “Ah, I see.”

X looked up and was startled to see Jasper watching them. It was as if he had forgotten Jasper was there. The Nosferatu was also close enough to have heard X’s whisper. Jasper glared, unhappy that someone else had worked it out.

“Um… yeah…” X said, like a guilty boy who had been caught doing something bad. “You were wearing a spiked collar, Jasper… it looked good on you... um…” He tried to find another distraction.

Annabelle cleared her throat. She filed away that particular thought of Jasper in a collar at the end of a leash. She wasn’t usually that kinky, not in _that_ way, but she had to admit there was something to that mental image that part of her really liked. “Was there… anything else?” She tried not to sound nervous.

“Yes! You two were both holding hearts. Annabelle, yours was bright red and Jasper’s was black. You both ripped your hearts in half and traded one of the halves, so that you both had a heart that was half black and half red. It was actually really kind of sweet. Um… are you two in love?”

For once, one of X’s random questions hit the mark. Annabelle would have been bright red if she had Blush of Life on. She frowned in deliberation as to whether or not she should tell X. After all, Ramona knew. She looked at Jasper, who didn’t look happy. They had gone _months_ with their relationship being a complete secret from their Kindred allies, and now it seemed like everyone was finding out at once. When it rains, it pours. Annabelle gave Jasper a pleading expression and he sighed, giving in.

“Yeah, X… we are,” she admitted softly. X was their good friend. She wanted to tell him about her and Jasper, but she wouldn't tell him everything. She suspected X wouldn’t be as cool with Blood Bonds as Ramona was.

X’s face lit up in pure joy. “Really?” he asked, delighted.

“Yeah. We’ve been seeing each other for a while-”

X interrupted her by squealing softly and diving in for a little hug. Annabelle chuckled and returned it, but Jasper put a hand up to stop X from hugging him again. X put his palms together in mock prayer and gave Jasper a little bow, then turned back to Annabelle. He was bouncing a little. “Wow, that’s so exciting! Are you like, dating?”

“Y-yeah,” Annabelle admitted. She could see Jasper’s dark expression and tried to calm X down. “But X, we’re trying to keep it on the down low, you know what I mean?”

“You’re dating in secret?” he gasped. “That’s _so_ romantic!”

Jasper rolled his eyes again and sighed.

“Yes, so we don’t want the others to know about it, okay?” Annabelle stressed to X. “Please don’t tell anyone?”

X mimed zipped his mouth shut, locking it and throwing away the key. “I swear, I won’t tell a soul.”

“Swear three times,” Annabelle said.

“I swear, I swear, I swear,” X said quickly.

Annabelle smiled and took Jasper’s hand. She squeezed briefly and felt him return it before they let go. X squeed again quietly, then sighed dramatically.

“It _is_ romantic though. Secret love. It’s like Shakespeare! Aww… but why is it secret? It is because of the Ivory Tower?”

“Partly,” Jasper said, “but also, can you picture what Nelli and Victor’s reactions would be?”

X could indeed picture it. He frowned. “Ah, yeah, no, they… no.” he shook his head, making his curly hair flop around. “They wouldn't let you live it down, even though those two are also _totally_ in love, so it would be _super_ hypocritical.”

“Yeah,” Annabelle agreed. “So, for now… we’re trying to keep quiet about it, alright, X?”

“Hey, I’ve already zipped my lips and threw away the key. Don’t worry about me,” he winked at her.

* * *

They left X among the sleeping homeless people in the park to feed. “I want to show Annabelle something,” Jasper said by way of explanation.

“ _Oh_ , I _see_ ,” X emphasised, giving them both many exaggerated winks.

Annabelle giggled.

“Yes,” Jasper said patiently.

“Okay,” X said in a cheeky tone, a hundred percent cheered up from his distress earlier in the evening. “You two have fun!”

“We will!” Annabelle said, waving him goodbye.

She and Jasper walked up one of the hiking trails in Griffith Park. It was very dark. There was only just enough light to be able to tell the path from the woods and rocks around it. Annabelle clutched Jasper’s hand, worried about losing him in the darkness.

“Jasper, where are we going?” she asked.

“Like I told X, I want to show you something. Have you been up this way before?”

“No, not really. Definitely not at night.”

Jasper was walking confidently, like he had done this particular hike a hundred times before. “Ah, well… I think you’ll like it.”

Back when Annabelle was human, her legs would have ached a fair bit during this hike. However, as a vampire she felt no such ache and her muscles barely complained. She glanced around the quiet, dark woods. “I’m sure it’s very pretty. Not much to see at night though.”

Jasper chuckled knowingly. “Just wait.”

He had been thinking about taking Annabelle up here before now, but had been putting it off for a while. Now, though, after their experience in the earthquake, Jasper was reminded, not for the first time, that he shouldn't put things like this off. They might exist on this Earth for a very long time, but they were not completely immortal. Jasper, with his extensive experience in killing other Kindred, knew that fact very well, but his recent brush with the true death had made things a little more personal.

They hiked for what felt like a long time, but eventually they emerged at a look-out. There was a railing next to a cliff and small plaque with information on it that was faded by the California sun. That wasn’t what Annabelle was looking at though. What she saw, and made her gasp with wonder, was the view. Los Angeles was lit up before them in a stunning nighttime cityscape.

“When you told me that the city had its power back, I thought this would be a good place to take you,” Jasper explained.

“Wow… yeah… “ Annabelle smiled and squeezed Jasper’s hand and arm. “This is amazing!”

In a practiced move, Jasper sat on the ground near the cliff, letting his long legs dangle down over the ledge. He was unafraid of falling. A little nervous of the edge, Annabelle did the same, snuggling up next to him. Jasper put his good arm around her.

“Do you come up here a lot?” she asked him.

“Sometimes, yeah,” Jasper said, looking out over the view. “Not as often as I used to though.”

He didn’t tell Annabelle, but he used to take Chloe up here every so often. Hikes and cityscapes were inexpensive, but romantic dates if done right, particularly if you brought some alcohol to share. He, of course, had none to share with Annabelle this night.

“It’s lovely,” Annabelle sighed.

Around them were the sounds of nighttime insects and animals. The sky was mostly overcast, but the moon could occasionally be seen as the clouds moved. There was a light breeze. The peace and open air was a complete reversal of the hellish conditions Jasper and Annabelle had been in trapped in the rubble a few nights ago. Annabelle sighed again, content and enjoying the view of the city. Like them, it too was recovering from the trauma of the earthquake, and also like them, it would likely survive and last for a very long time to come.

“Thank you for bringing me here,” she said.

“It’s alright,” he leaned his head against hers.

“It’s nice to have a quiet moment.”

“Yeah,” he agreed softly.

“Are… you okay with Ramona and X knowing about us?”

“Not really,” Jasper said, his tone changing to a grumble, “but they’ve both promised to keep it secret. I hope we can trust them.”

“I’m sure it will be fine,” Annabelle said. Truth was, she was glad some people knew. She didn’t like all the secrets and sneaking around.

Jasper had his doubts, but didn’t want to voice them now. He had a bad feeling that it was only a matter of time before their relationship was anything but secret. Things would never be the same for them.

Even still, Jasper and Annabelle both knew that this was a good moment. They were in love and they were free and safe. For now, all was well.

**Author's Note:**

> "Kazz," you may ask, "why did you write such a long fic?"
> 
> Well, the answer to that is twofold. 
> 
> 1) I had the idea for an earthquake fic for a long time and it turns out there's a lot to explore with that idea. I watched several documentaries about earthquakes, the '89 one in particular. As with any natural disaster, it takes time and effort to recover from it. That's when I knew this was going to be a very long fic.
> 
> 2) This fic was intended as a birthday gift for M, one of my L.A. by Night muses. Happy birthday, Miss M!


End file.
